Our Leanchoil exhibition and picnic in grounds of former hospital highlights Forres area community connections
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MORE than 100 people attended an event to remember one of the town’s most beloved buildings.
The celebration at Leanchoil Hospital, St Leonard’s Road on the afternoon of Saturday, October 1 was open to all, promoted by the team behind the ongoing ‘Our Leanchoil’ archiving project.
Project officer, Helen Avenell, has been capturing stories about the much-loved institution that served the area for 136 years before it was closed for good by NHS Grampian in 2018.
She said: “The weather was good and the event went really well. There was a steady flow of people interested in the exhibition and the Leanchoil project. Some even brought a picnic!”
The event was opened by Lord Lieutenant of Moray, Major General Seymour Monro, who is president of Leanchoil Trust.
He said: “I was proud to introduce the event at, I hope, the future site of a wonderful health and wellbeing village and veterans’ activity centre.
“The event celebrated the history of the hospital through the words and images of those who had worked there, patients and visitors.
“My family, like many others present, were treated there at some time or other!
“Many people contributed to make the event a fascinating experience.
“The Our Leanchoil project has been fascinating and we will continue to receive more contributions, telling the history of Leanchoil.”
Forres and District Pipe Band then marched from the hospital to its lawn for a half hour performance.
Wellbeing activities were available to attendees, delivered by practitioners from Healthworks, Heartfulness, Wild Things!, Forres Friends of Woods and Fields, singer Stacie Whitney and Naturally Useful.
“The focus of the afternoon was to showcase the work that had been produced by the Our Leanchoil project,” explained Helen. “Leanchoil Trustees were on hand to talk about it.
“Photos gifted to the project were re-produced on large panels displayed on the boarded-up windows of the hospital.
“There were also four sound stations sited around the front where people could listen to clips of stories about life in the hospital that were collected as part of our oral history recording.”
Attendees included: Our Leanchoil Memory Teas participants who had contributed stories; volunteers who had helped gather the stories; and more local people who wanted to see the installations, hear the stories and support the future development of the site as a centre for wellbeing.
“We are due to complete Our Leanchoil soon,” said Helen. “We are writing up a report for the funders, and putting the final touches to a project film to be shown in the town hall later in the autumn, alongside an exhibition of the images and writings.
“We are also working on our website which will include snippets from all the interviews and images kindly donated by participants.”
