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Home > Angus Ahead > Angus Ambassador Awards 2005
Glamis Castle, childhood home of the late Queen Mother, received this ultimate accolade at the glittering Angus Ambassador Awards on Friday 25 November presided over by guest presenter Carol Kirkwood, face of the BBC Breakfast weather.
Over 220 stars of the Angus' business, arts and tourism sectors joined the county's artists, community representatives and aspiring youth talent at the Carnoustie Golf Course Hotel to applaud those who are acting as outstanding ambassadors for the county.
These Angus Ambassador Awards, now in their sixth year, have been created by the Angus Ahead Campaign to showcase the best of Angus people, Angus community and Angus business.
"We have great ambitions - for Angus. Our Ambassadors are helping us achieve them and embrace new challenges for the county. Together we can build a more confident county - recognising ability and rewarding achievement," said Provost of Angus Bill Middleton, Chair of the Angus Ahead Champions.
The winner of the Ambassador of the Year, sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland, is selected by the Angus Ahead Champions themselves - and this year's recipient has certainly flown the flag for Angus on both the national and international stage in a big way.
Described by the Foreign Office as having the wow factor, the history and heritage, but more importantly staff with a 'can-do' attitude, Glamis Castle was the star of one of the country's biggest events this year.
Playing host to the world's most powerful First Wives Club on 7 July this year brought Glamis Castle the opportunity not only to showcase to the world the best of Angus but also to be part of the biggest PR occasion of the Year.
For these ladies were the wives of the G8 Summit leaders.
TV cameras were ready, journalists and photographers from across the world poised to record every moment of the visit - from the tree planting with local primary schoolchildren and community members, the lunch with its Arbroath Smokies, its Montrose wild salmon, its Angus berries and Strathmore water; music from the 2005 Youth Ambassador winner Gillian Maitland, and demonstrations of Highland dancing from a local dance school.
However that day also brought disaster for the country in the shape of the London bombings. Co-operation and goodwill by the Glamis team in downsizing the media profile and presence, only enhanced the county's and the Castle's reputation with all the G8 leaders.
And now Glamis Castle is working with the Visit Scotland Business Tourism Unit to produce a case study on "World Class Facilities in Scotland".
But showcasing Angus did not end there for Glamis - for the Castle was also the star of this year's BBC2 12 week series Castle in the Country.
Winner - Glamis Castle
Winner - Hi-Fli Banners & Flags
Flying the flag - quite literally - for Angus at home and abroad is Kirriemuir based Hi-Fli Banners & Flags.
As world leaders in digitally printed textile display products, this company has further enhanced its growing reputation by being the only digital printer in the world to manufacture to strict environmental controls.
All this paid off for them in a big way this year as they beat off stiff national competition to win the contract to produce London's 2012's promotional and branded material.
Winning this job has boosted Hi-Fli's annual turnover by 10%, added four new employees to their staff and helped them invest yet again in new technology and up to the minute processes.
Their list of clients includes top music festivals, sporting events and shopping venues- from Glastonbury and the V music festivals, to the 2003 Rugby World Cup finals in Australia, the EUFA Cup Finals and Champions League.
They can even claim to have producing the world's largest Saltire flag!
Highly commended:
- this Arbroath firm designed and manufactured a groundbreaking innovative£4million machine for manufacture of needles.Angus Farmers Market – a unique co-operative of farmers and suppliers make this market recognised as one of the top five in Scotland.
Winner - Edzell Village Improvement Society Garden Group
The EVIS gardeners have been entering the Beautiful Scotland in Bloom competition for over 35 years.
Hanging baskets galore, stunning floral displays, dazzling and overflowing containers on every street corner - truly a village in bloom- won Edzell top prize in the Small Village category last year.
All of this work is done voluntarily and not only showcases the village in spectacular style but also engenders a pride and involvement in the life of the village.
The hard work of this dedicated band of green-fingered enthusiasts paid off in spectacular style this year when Edzell was asked to host the national awards of the Beautiful Scotland in Bloom competition – the first time a village has ever received this accolade.
This event attracted 250 delegates from all over Scotland who enjoyed trips round some of the county's attractions and a Taste of Angus through its fresh local produce.
During the past 37 years the Edzell Garden groupvolunteershave created a stunning and welcoming environment for both residents and visitors, demonstrating, quite literally, a growing pride in their community.
Highly commended:
Arbroath Events – in only its second year the Arbroath Seafront Spectacular with its high profile Red Arrow fly past attracted over 25,000 people to this seaside burgh.
Forfar Food Fest – showcasing the high quality food produced in and around Angus to attract 10,000 visitors and increasing business for retailers and restaurants.
sponsored by AstuteWinner - Laura McGhee
As a composer, musician and violinist Laura McGhee's pride in Angus shone through as she took centre stage this year at the Tartan Day celebrations in New York.
Invited by the Scottish Executive to perform her own piece "Commemoration" at the opening of the 911 British Memorial Garden with the Scottish Tourism Minister Patricia Ferguson, Laura, from Monifieth, was featured on ABC News coast to coast wearing her very own Angus tartan.
Angus and its 1320 Declaration of Arbroath – key to Scotland's Tartan Day celebrations - has been the inspiration of her "Arbroath Suite"- a journey through the heritage of traditional music from the signing of that world-famous document, through to the Clearances when tens of thousands of Scots left their homeland for a new life in the States.
And it was in the shadow of Ellis Island that she performed this piece for the first time as the first-ever Scottish musician to appear there during the annual Clan Currie Tartan Day celebrations.
Since then she has notched up a number of other first including the first traditional Scottish artist to appear in the UK download charts for 10 weeks this summer reaching No 11, with her new single Hail Caledonia.
Laura too has made her mark on the more popular Scottish music scene working with names such as Capercaillie, Runrig, Phil Cunningham and The Pogues, with her new album expected to be released by Universal early next year.
The judges recognised that Laura, in promoting her own distinct heritage will give a more international focus to her birthplace as she gains even greater success.
Highly commended were:
Muriel McIntosh, The Retreat, Glenesk – 50 years after its inauguration in 1955 the Retreat opens its doors again to bring to life Glenesk through the generations that to dedication of Muriel
Janet Penman, Angus Crafts Association – her drive, commitment and enthusiasm has brought together over 62 crafters under one group energising the rural business community.
Winner - Carnoustie Golf Links Management Committee
Carnoustie Golf Links Management Committee has worked tirelessly to ensure that the Carnoustie Championship Course retains its reputation amongst the top golfers as the best, if not the most challenging, course in the world.
And that commitment to quality will place Carnoustie firmly on an international stage as it once again hosts The Open in 2007 – bringing thousands of visitors to the area, and hours of global TV coverage.
But this year too the Carnoustie Course hit the big time worldwide as the star of a weekly TV series on the US Golf Channel, The Big Break – aired to 100 million homes across the world!
The first Big Break series ever to be filmed outside the United States featured 12 golfers, six from Europe and six from the USA, undertaking unusual golfing challenges. They were also filmed enjoying Angus and some of its key visitor attractions.
To put this into context if the Carnoustie Golf Links had advertised on the Golf Channel for the 12-week series, that exposure would have cost in the region of $40million.
Now Carnoustie and Angus is receiving considerable media interest from the UK and abroad, and has a web link from thegolfchallenge.com – all of which will bring significant numbers of visitors trying their own skills on the links.
Highly commended were:
Brian Wallace – in October 2004 this Arbroath man boarded the BT Challenge for a 10 month and 34,000 mile round-the-world voyage.
IMT Marine Consultants – this Montrose company won a £1.4million contract from BP to design offshore support vessels to be built at Yantai Raffles Shipyard in China.
sponsored by Forbes of KingennieWinner - Caledonian Railway (Brechin) Ltd
For visitors looking for the romance of a bygone age they need look no further than the Caledonian Railway (Brechin) Ltd.
Run almost exclusively by volunteers, the Caledonian Railway now brings in well over 15,000 visitors to Angus each year – from "Murder on the Orient Express" to "Days out with Thomas" and Santa Specials – this attraction offers a unique experience for all the family.
It also underlines the power of motivating and mobilising community volunteers to ensure the tracks are kept clear, the trains are cleaned and repaired – epitomising a pride in the community that has turned the Caledonian Railway into a key tourist attraction of the county.
2005 has been the busiest year for the Railway so far but not content to rest on those figures they have set even higher targets for 2006 thanks to the employment of a Marketing and Events Manager shared with Montrose Air Station.
Highly Commended were:
Angus Angling Initiative – a group of enthusiasts promoting Angus as a niche tourism destination and promoting Angus as a national angling competition venue.
Emma Laird – young Forfar entrepreneur selected as a finalist in national tourism awards for the quality of her Foresterseat Caravan Park.
Winner - Gillian Maitland
Forfar musician Gillian Maitlandis no stranger to success having just been awarded an £80,000 grant from a fund set up in memory of Scotland's first First Minister, the late Donald Dewar.
This helped 19-year-old Gillian make her dream of studying in the US come true, and in August she jetted off to the prestigious Frost School of Music at the University of Miami for a trip of a lifetime.
For, as part of her four-year course, she will be given the chance to work with top percussionist and marimba player Ney Rosauro who has written compositions for many musicians including Scots percussionist Evelyn Glennie.
This success follows hot on the heels of her performance in front of the wives of the G8 leaders this summer
But Gillian, despite working hard to raise funds for her studies, and playing at numerous concerts, together with three fellow performers has launched a major fund raising drive to raise money for Cancer Research UK – so look out for a big concert with some world renowned names in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh in the near future.
Highly Commended were:
Graeme Edgar - Angus College student with an innovative business idea of videoing fellow catering students special menus providing a personalized promotional DVD as part of their CV.
Nicola Hampton - this Brechin teenager represents Angus in the Scottish Youth Parliament Rural Affairs sub committee.
