COMMUNITY: ENTERTAINMENT
Elgin Town Hall
W
hen Moray Council announced they were looking to close some local halls in early 2018, with the suggestion that some of them could be taken over by the Community, the group Elgin Town Hall for the Community was formed to look into taking over the running of Elgin Town Hall. Taking on the biggest hall in Moray would be no small undertaking and convincing Moray Council that a new group formed from the various hall user groups would be the hardest, so the welcome announcement on the 26th July that a two year lease had been signed and that, from August, Elgin Town Hall would be in community hands was something to be celebrated by the group and the wider community.
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Since getting the keys in August 2018 the hall has seen a wide variety of well and not so well known acts passing through its doors. Acts such as Skipinnish, Barbara Dickson, The Red Hot Chili Pipers along with Comedy Legend Jack Dee, not to mention two of Scotland’s rising comedians Jim Smith and Gary Meikle. Added to this the hall has continued to support local theatre, dance and music groups, thus allowing these talented performers a place to shine. With the hall going from strength to strength it came as a big shock in March 2020 when Covid19 struck and suddenly there was nothing and the future of the hall fell into doubt. Since the Covid19 restrictions have been in place the hall has been following all Government advice closely and with the help of the local environmental health team we have been able to keep our doors open throughout to the benefit of the community. The hall has been used by the Blood Transfusion Service, a base for the Covid Test Centre, a place of worship and, as restrictions