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A £52,000 refurbishment of Miltonduff Hall has transformed the 80-year-old facility.

It will now be promoted as a base for individuals and groups to take part in a range of sports, among them mountain biking and orienteering.

A special open day next weekend will showcase the revamped facility and offer taster sessions.

The bulk of the cash for the project came from the Scottish Government’s LEADER programme for rural communities.

The local community raised £8,000 towards the cost through its own efforts and funding also came from the Rothes Wind Farm. Local architect and resident Colin Souter supervised the project, providing in-kind support to the effort.

The event on Saturday, September 3, will take the form of a family fun day from noon to 4.30pm, with ‘Pathways to Sport’ sessions.

John McMulkin, Active Schools co-ordinator with Moray Council, said: “The open day will showcase some of the activities which can be based from the hall, including mountain bike skills sessions led by Outf!t Moray, organised rides led by the Moray Mountain Bike Club, orienteering for all ages led by the Moravian Orienteering Club, and a Boccia (disabled bowling) session led by Active Schools.”

Activities will take place throughout the afternoon on a drop-in basis and are free.

There will be a zumba demonstration, and the chance to take part in bowling, archery, mountain biking, orienteering and much more.

Hall committee member Angela Hyland said: “This is also about letting everyone know what is available within the hall on a weekly basis. We also want to show what the refurbished hall has to offer.

“Our hall will be 80 years old in July next year so this is quite a good time to upgrade it.

“The hall floor was in great need of repair and the toilets were quite dated. We were looking at reducing our electricity consumption and these ideas, along with the sports hub, started the ball rolling.”

The work that has been done includes:

•Refurbished floor in the main hall and new lighting.

•New electric heaters and lighting in the playschool room.

•New kitchen flooring, lighting and heating.

•New toilet and shower rooms.

The works will be completed with Wifi connection and a cycle rack outside.

All internal paintwork was done thanks to the National Lottery ‘Awards for All’.

“We now hope to gain further funding from another source to do external painting and provide some new playground furniture,” added Mrs Hyland.

Contractors used in the project were from the local and Elgin area.

Aside from its new sporting use, the hall is used daily by playschool, twice weekly sessions of zumba, bowling and badminton.

It is also used for a range of community functions, including parties, dances and wedding receptions.

“Now with the upgrades we hope to attract even more users,” said Mrs Hyland, “especially in sport situtated in the areas near to the hall such as Monaughty Woods.

“Our open day is to highlight the quality of our hall and the opportunities it can provide for social, educational and recreational activities. We want the generous local community to see our lovely hall now that it has had a facelift.”

The open day will start with a piper, followed by the cutting of the ribbon and speech from hall chairman Kenneth Milne.

A BBQ and refreshments will be on offer during the day.

Entertainment will be provided by Moray Concert Brass and Elgin Explorer Scouts will assist in the running of the event.

The day will end with a ceilidh with North-east band Jiggery Pokery from 8pm.

Events will take place in Forres, Lossiemouth, Elgin and Buckie.

Buckie Christmas Kracker (BCK) will make a welcome return on Saturday with a fun-packed family day focused on Cluny Square.

The Buckie Business and Retail Association has pulled out all the stops to put on a special event to attract the crowds.

Using planning gain money from the new Tesco store, the local businesses have come up with a timetable of events which starts with ‘Breakfast with Santa and his reindeer’ from 9.30am.

The main festivities will get under way with a grand parade through the town from 11am.

Attractions will include a large globe that youngsters can climb, and a temporary ice rink in one quadrant of the square.

The ice rink promises to be a unique attraction as it comes to Buckie for the first time, and will be in place from Thursday night through to Sunday.

The countdown to the lights switch- on at 4pm on the Saturday will begin with a firework display.

Lossiemouth will also herald the start of its festive celebrations on Saturday night at 6pm when Emmerdale stars Sian Reese-Williams and Rik Makarem switch on the lights.

They will be joined by local athlete Kathryn Evans and Councillor Dave Stewart.

Festivities at the esplanade will get underway from 4pm with entertainments, stalls and a funfair. Fireworks will follow the lights switch-on.

Not to miss out on the Christmas fun, the Elgin Winter Festival on Saturday will take place from 10am to 5.30pm in the town centre and St Giles Centre.

There will be a Christmas market throughout the day, a range of local musicians and entertainers from 12noon, a reindeer parade from 2pm with Santa Claus, and Elgin and District Pipe Band.

Elgin Library will be running a Christmas craft fair and fun day from 10am to 4pm.

The lights will be switched on at 5pm by Cheyenne Duthie from East End Primary School.

Completing a busy Saturday, Forres will also flick the switch on its lights at 6pm.

The entertainment gets underway from 3pm in the High Street with stalls and entertainment.

There will be a fancy dress parade in Andersons playground at 4.30pm, followed by a torchlit parade to the tolbooth at 5.15pm.

Music and carols will be provided by the Culbin Singers and Elgin City Band at 5.45pm.

SOURCE: The Northern Scot