Two of Aberdeenshire’s great assets, culture and food, featured prominently at this
year’s Arts & Business Scotland’s Annual Awards in Edinburgh. Woodend Barn and
Buchanan Food of Banchory were recognised for their shared creativity and
expertise in two of the main event categories; winning the 'Entrepreneurship Award'
outright and being commended in the ‘People Award’ category.
The People Award recognises a partnership that uses the power of culture to engage
people in the wider community and the Entrepreneurship Award recognises a
partnership that has developed business expertise or opportunities within the
cultural organisation.
Working together under a shared understanding of the important role the arts play
in health and well being, the Barn and Buchanans have worked on several projects
over the last 18 months. Most notably, the Barns 'Pull Up A Chair' event which
raised £28,000 for the Barn and featured a performance and Q&A from Dame Evelyn
Glennie and an art auction, including donations from sculptor Andy Scott, singer
Joan Armatrading and comedian Jeremy Hardy.
Through three strands of the programme (Seasonal Dishes, Pull up a Chair and Young
Chefs) Buchanan Food and Woodend Barn shared their creativity, expertise and
finance to create community, business and sustainability benefits. The support from
Buchanan Food for the Pull up a Chair fundraising event enabled Woodend Barn to
raise £28,000; Seasonal Dishes engaged a multi- generational mix over clay and
collaborative suppers; Young Chefs gave enthusiastic children the basics in soup,
bread and kitchen creativity.
Each project has sustained the arts and focused on people as the drivers for
community change the winning partnership are delighted to have won this
prestigious award.
Val Buchanan of Buchanan Food said:
“We have enjoyed the challenge of engaging with Woodend Barn as a business sponsor. Being able to become involved in projects that reflect our company values has been very rewarding. We have seen how beneficial the arts are to the wider community as well as understanding the financial constraints faced by Arts organisations in general.”
Lorraine Grant, Director of Woodend Barn said:
“Winning these Awards has been a huge boost to the Barn, providing a national platform for our creative work and signaling to future community and business partners our continuing aspiration to work together to sustain creativity and connect communities across the North-east. “
The ceremony took place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on
Wednesday, February 3 and was attended by senior figures from Scottish Business,
the Arts, local and national Government, including Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet
Secretary for Culture Europe and External Affairs.