After 11 epic years Kingussie development company chair hands over to golden Cat
After 11 eventful years in office, Kingussie Community Development Company’s chairman has handed over the baton - to the country’s most successful triathlete in history.
As Ian Moffett shook the hand of Catriona Morrison MBE and wished her well, he predicted an even faster-moving era for the charity.
“I couldn’t be happier to be handing over to Cat. She is the perfect successor, full of energy, good ideas and commitment. We’re in for an exciting time.”
Mr Moffett had been considering stepping down for some time and finding the right replacement was very important to him.
“It’s time for a change but the board and I will still be working with Cat and that’s why we’re all so pleased to welcome her to the chair. I’m staying on the board, because I am still very keen myself, but she will give it the new impetus it needs.”
He has seen many successes in his time - not least the creation of a hugely successful hydro plant - and anticipates many more to come.
KCDC was incorporated as a company with charitable status in 2006 to investigate, and build a Community Hydro on the River Gynack.
The community woodlands were donated to the charity and the site found, where the original hydro serving the St Vincent’s hospital had been situated in the early 20th century.
The obtaining of the permissions and funding for the Hydro took several years, largely as a result of frequent changes in regulations. Fortunately, the Hydro was completed in 2015 without the necessity of borrowings. Since then, the Hydro has produced a surplus every year which is used to make charitable grants of up to £750 for small grants and £3,000 for large grants to organisations in Kingussie.
KCDC maintains the woodlands it owns and has developed much of the path network in and around the Badenoch capital. It drives forward and seeks funding for other community projects, such as the repair of the Jubilee Walk, and the regeneration of the Gynack Gardens showpiece in the town.
“I’m really looking forward to taking things on,” Catriona told the Strathy. “My involvement started when I joined the paths-building group in 2019 and became a member of the board of trustees in 2021.”
She is a business development manager for a charity and social enterprise which supports young people through sport, youth work and education and after an astonishingly successful athletic career she remains an outdoors enthusiast and is most likely to be seen walking, running and whizzing around the strath on her bike.