Editor’s Note: This post was created from the recording of an interview which was part of the community consultation, the CHI’26 Storyfest 22-24 Sept 2026 in the Moray Art Centre (MAC).
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Really, what we need as a community centre is just somewhere that’s warm and undercover, with nice comfortable chairs — especially for the winter nights — somewhere we can come to play cards, watch films or just all gather. We don’t necessarily need these big meals — that can easily be managed, we can bring our own — but just somewhere to go that’s comfortable and warm. That’s what’s sorely missed.
Someone described it as a living room big enough for everyone to be in, that wasn’t her own living room. Yes, exactly — comfy sofas, somewhere to cook, make tea, somewhere to hang out, somewhere to meet people and have those conversations, especially in the winter months .
And honestly, it could be done really easily by putting rugs down in the big classroom we’ve just been in. The catering could go in the end classroom — that’s always been used as a tea-and-coffee spot by those using the art centre.
CC-for-the-day
We could bring in some big old chairs — it wouldn’t cost a fortune — and people could bring their own rugs and help furnish it a bit. It could be done really quickly and really simply, in my humble opinion. Also we could have coffee tables, big settees, and games — definitely board games, a bookshelf, that kind of thing.
Regarding food, I don’t think we need to be doing all the cooking ourselves. There are plenty of good takeaway vans. We used to have a guy from the West Indies with a van, and he’d come and cook his version of chicken. After all that veg, veg, veg all the time, it was nice to get a bit of meat in — he’d cook it all up and there were queues for his food. We could easily do takeaway like that. It’s not quite the same as people sitting around peeling potatoes and cooking up a brunch together, I know.
Maybe we could do barbecuing in the summer out there, using the garden a bit more, hold garden parties and that sort of thing. We’d need a fire pit for that, which could be out at the back where there are no neighbours to worry about, just the trees. It’d be perfect.
So yes — I’d be up for the MAC being a temporary community centre. What’s not to like? Any space is better than none.
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Photo credit: Thank you to Caroline Geurtsen
Mother of two sons and grandmother to four grandchildren, Bnb proprietor in the Park in Treetops one of the 7 original bungalows for over 20 years . Living in the Park suits my Aquarius nature
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