WHEN Moray woman Lynne Stewart volunteered to spend ten months in a poverty stricken Indian community as part of an overseas aid programme, it completely changed her life.

A LEGENDARY figure in the history of 'The Northern Scot', Harry Bremner, died this week at the age of 78.

IT isn't every day that your face is seen by more than 10% of the UK's population.

COMMUNICATING with animals was once thought to be the preserve of Dr. Dolittle and other works of fiction.

HOPE of a new life is putting a smile on the faces of street children who have been rescued from the slums of Mumbai.

AN archive project is looking for help in finding relatives of a Moray man.

IMAGINE living in a time when dung heaps in the High Street were a common sight and smell, or there were riots over who would win the right to represent the area in parliament!

A COLOURFUL tribute to Moray youngster Logan Main has been created at his former nursery.

A TEAM from RAF Kinloss have completed a gruelling trek, covering thousands of miles, in the name of a brave little girl with a rare and extremely painful skin condition.

THE driving force behind the worldwide growth of an iconic Moray family food firm for 50 years, Gordon Baxter, became a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

THE oldest surviving Gordon Highlander from World War II, Major John (Jack) Rennie, has died at his home, Dell of Inshes, Inverness, at the age of 97.

AN ASPIRATION fulfilled, a tremendous privilege and opportunity, was how the new station commander at RAF Kinloss described his appointment.

FOCHABERS is a small village whose inhabitants have made a big impact in the world.

LOSSIEMOUTH'S David Allan is preparing to become the youngest ever police officer in Grampian, and potentially Scotland.

ADULT learners from across Moray took a well earned bow this week.

A MORAY woman who had been waiting on a liver transplant has died before a matching donor could be found.

THE family of a young Elgin man, who died tragically after suffering an asthma attack at a Highland music festival in 2009, has made a mighty effort to give back to the hospital that worked so hard to save his life.

BILL Stuart, a stalwart of local community and hospital radio, has died aged 62.

IT is not just disease and starvation which continue to spread through Haiti's disaster-torn island.

WINNIE the Pooh will be the star attraction for Elgin cancer battler Isla Simpson as she looks forward to a dream holiday with her family at Disneyland Paris.

ELGIN will have seemed a quieter place this week for many following the death last Friday of one its most colourful characters - William Duncan Turner, known to all and sundrie as Chic.

AFTER a marathon career as a doctor in Keith, and having hung up his stethoscope for the final time, a local GP is now planning to lace-up his running shoes on a far more regular basis.

Dr Robert Hutchison (58) has worked at Keith Health Centre for the past 30 years, tending to the medical needs of local townsfolk.

A MORAY tot battling a rare childhood cancer is home and making progress.

ACCOLADES have been heaped on inspirational young people from across Moray who have shown they are prepared to lead by example.

MEMORIES of the "good old days" will be revived for former school friends and football-mad team-mates at a reunion next weekend.

A COLOMBIAN-born woman is raising money in Moray to help remedy a decades-long crisis in her homeland that she describes as "an invisible tragedy".

OLD Firm rivalry will come to a head on Sunday and two fervent fans are set to be on the edge of their seats for a good reason.

A FORMER student is set to draw on his own experience of college life and learning as he takes up his new role as university disability support co-ordinator.

CONNECTING with tourism businesses on the ground is the key to raising the profile of Moray and Speyside as an internationally-renowned tourist destination, insists the man charged with spearheading the job.

'THE Northern Scot' snapper, Eric Cormack, has dazzled judges yet again at the Highlands and Islands Media Awards.

GRAND master hand-engraver Neil Oliver's work will be on display every time someone posts a letter.

AFTER being told her size made her a health and safety issue at work, determined dieter Donna McAllister vowed to change her ways.

OYEZ, oyez - who has got the loudest voice in town and could take on the mantle as Lossiemouth's next town crier?

HE has shared air space with Hollywood superstars, and his dulcet tones are heard worldwide by 120 million people each day, yet Philip Banks seldom needs to leave the privacy of a tiny studio in his Portgordon home.

A GRIM childhood, which included five years spent in an orphanage, led a Moray woman to devote much of her life to helping others.

TWO Moray sporting figures will swap golf and football in the New Year for a gruelling charity cycling challenge with a strong rugby theme.

A "ONE-in-a-million" Moray schoolboy has earned an early Christmas present for his heart-wrenching account of the decline in health of a grandmother he describes as "the best person I'll ever meet".

IT was a case of from Russia with love when a Moray groom swapped his wedding vows with his Siberian bride after following in his younger brother's footsteps down the aisle.

FAME could be about to come calling for a Moray schoolgirl who is staking her claim to the title of Miss Teen Princess UK.

BROUGHT up in an orphanage and with no living relatives, 91-year-old Maggie Gow has forged a life-changing friendship with a caring young mum who has opened up a window to the world for her, writes Fiona McPherson. For a few precious hours a week, she shares her memories and catches up on the news with Lorna Taylor - and together they venture out around Buckie to enjoy a cuppa and a homebake or a rake around the shops.

CRIPPLED by partial paralysis and overwhelmed by depression, a Moray mum had to summon up all her courage and determination to battle back to be crowned a champion fighting force.

DRUGS, alcohol and smoking are perennial issues of concern to a large number of people in Moray.

MORAY'S most famous footballing son has told the incredible story of his battle with the bookies, the booze and the beautiful game.

FROM teaching his martial arts skills to rising young sports stars to instructing police and security staff, the services of Lee Sansum have been in high demand around the world this year.

INSPIRED by her mother's recovery from a kidney transplant, a sick Moray teenager awaiting the same life- saving operation is hoping her dad will be given the go-ahead to become her donor.

DUTCH teacher Inge Birnie can already speak a host of languages, but when she moved to Scotland 12 years ago, she was "embarrassed" that she could not speak the native tongue.

A SCOTS crime writer with Moray roots has died. Reg McKay (56), who was born in Keith but moved to Glasgow with his family as a teenager, wrote a string of best-selling crime novels.

LEFT feeling helpless as her dad battled cancer, teacher Lorna MacInnes vowed to play her part in the fight against the disease.

STUDENT nurse Gillian McRobie has just enhanced her learning experience with a two-week study tour of the United States.

THERE may not be any skyscrapers in Inchberry, but a formidable fruit discovery could see the tiny Moray community nicknamed the 'Big Apple' before long.

A MORAY woman could have engineered her way to success after being nominated for a prestigious national award.

A STAY-at-home mum who had lost her direction in life is rekindling hopes of her family embarking on a new life Down Under.

ELGIN hairdresser Leanna Sutherland helped create a head-turning look at the glitzy London Fashion Week.

TRIBUTE was paid last week to the life and work of a Moray consultant whose pioneering investigations established a national training manual for anaesthetists.

A MORAY woman is flushed with success after winning an award in her chosen trade – plumbing.

WRITER Gary Sutherland spent a year travelling the length and breadth of the country to experience the unique community festivals which are ringed on the calendar, yet often overlooked by those living closest to them.

THE inspiration provided by a Moray youngster's brave battle against cancer has given charities a major cash boost.

THREE officers from RAF Lossiemouth have been rewarded for taking the lead in frontline operations in Iraq.

NOT everyone thinks they have it in them to change the life of a child for the better, but every day in Moray and throughout Scotland volunteers who sit on Children's Panels do just that.

A DEDICATED surgeon who has devoted his career to setting the highest standards of health care for his Moray patients has bowed out of the operating theatre.

ARMY Cadet Michael Farmer has just returned from the "most amazing summer" of his life.

HIS determination to speak up for what needed to be done in Lossiemouth even led him to a seat on Moray Council.