Moray's Jim Royan honoured by Rotary Elgin
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A hard-working and committed Moray stalwart has been granted honorary membership of Rotary Elgin.
The gesture is a sincere thank-you for all that Jim Royan has done over the years to help the community.
In announcing the honorary membership, Martin Birse, the outgoing president of Rotary Elgin, paid warm tribute to Jim.
He said: "It was a challenge to select just a handful of the highlights of a gentleman who first joined the club in 1975.
"For the past 47 years he's been an ever-willing volunteer who's always top of the 'ask' list.
"Service above self has been evident in every event he's been involved in.
"As a very youthful rotarian in 1983 he was the brains behind Taste of Moray, a gala day of food, drink and heritage, which was a forerunner to many subsequent Rotary Elgin events.
"Another outstanding project which Jim was involved with from the outset – the Bothy Ballads Champion of Champions evening – has just delivered its 40th competition, and continues to be as popular as ever."
Martin added that Jim has done so much for Moray both as a businessman and in many other roles.
He said: "Over the years, Jim has willingly accepted senior positions across various sectors including the meat industry, whisky festivals, developing youth and promoting the local economy.
"In the early 1990s he was an active board member of Moray's NHS trust, which then led to a career in the health service, taking on roles such as chairman of NHS Grampian and a non-executive directorship of the Scottish Ambulance Service.
"More recently he turned his hand to Castle to Cathedral to Cashmere in Elgin, a heritage-led economic regeneration of the town centre."
Martin added that Jim is also a former Vice Lord Lieutenant of Moray, in addition to having been the president of Elgin Rotary during 1985/86.
Born into a family of butchers, Jim was the fourth generation to run Royan of Elgin, which was established in 1850.
He traded until 2016 when he retired and his shop was bought over by John Davidson.
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