Chairperson’s introduction

Kenneth Fraser | Chairperson

I’m delighted to introduce ANGUSalive’s annual report for 2019-20. Once again I’m so proud to present our achievements over the past year and showcase the various activities, events and services we’ve programmed and presented to help the community of Angus be healthy, active and creative. You’ll read that a key project for the organisation this year was the completion of the organisational review. This included the transition to an operations team dedicated to delivering the highest quality customer experience and a programming team dedicated to developing and delivering exciting, innovative and highly engaging programmes to encourage participation across Angus. This review has added strength to our ‘charitable trust’ status ensuring we are sustainable, fit for purpose and are ready to overcome any challenges encountered and take advantage of new opportunities. Our charitable trust status also enables our organisation to form strong partnerships with other organisations and stakeholders. Some fantastic examples presented in this report includes the funding received to enable us to open a permanent fishing and maritime heritage exhibition at the Signal Tower Museum which included remodelling of the Category A gatehouses to create new exhibition space. This near £110,000 project was part-funded by the North East of Scotland Fisheries Local Action Group (NESFLAG), Museums Galleries Scotland and Arbroath Common Good Fund as well as supported by funding from ANGUSalive. Another excellent example of partnership working was the introduction of Move More ANGUSalive - a partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support. The programme aims to ensure that people living with cancer are supported to become physically active, before, during and after treatment. Macmillan Cancer Support has provided ANGUSalive with £120,000 of funding over a three year period to support us to develop a sustainable pathway for anyone living with and beyond cancer to find an activity that is right for them to continue to be active. We are keen to foster even stronger links with the many partners we work with now as well as establish new ones in the aim of enhancing our services, programming and our people. Since the formation of ANGUSalive in 2015, the journey has been one of evolution and change. We have created a workplace culture that encourages a more entrepreneurial approach and we must continue to do this in the future to ensure future services continue to reflect the needs of the communities we serve. I’d like to say a huge thank you to the support we currently and continue to receive from the local community, Angus Council and our funding partners. Last year we attracted over 2.4 million people though the doors (and gates) of our 34 sites and we hope that support will continue in the months and years to come. It’s essential we can continue our important role in contributing socially and economically to Angus but also to the health and wellbeing of everyone living, working and visiting the county.