Meet the team
Fergus Mutch
Chair
Fergus runs strategic advisory and communications firm True North and is a regular newspaper columnist and media commentator on Scottish politics. He was previously Head of Communications and Research for the SNP. As a piper, Fergus has considerable experience performing in trad and ceilidh bands and teaching music, and applies this to concert programming and workshops at St Margaret’s — not least to the Braemar Folk Festival which he helped to establish in 2021.
Fergus is passionate about bringing brilliant performers to the St Margaret’s stage and unearthing new talent. He believes, through transforming the building into a high-quality arts space, there’s huge potential to develop St Margaret’s place as a unique venue of international renown. workshops.
Colin Wight
Secretary
Retired former BBC TV reporter and former employee at STV, Colin is a skilful camera operator and video editor. He has produced video records of many events at St Margaret’s and has also worked in promoting the work of Braemar Castle and of the Braemar Royal Highland Society. Colin brings to the project an understanding of the media and has valuable access to a range of performers.
“St Margaret’s is a wonderful inspiring space: but it’s also a blank canvas on which so many wonderful things can happen for a small community like Braemar. It’s an exciting and rewarding project to be involved in”.
Reverend Kenneth Mackenzie
Minister to the Parish of Braemar and Crathie and Domestic Chaplain to HM The Queen in Scotland, Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Deputy Lord Lieutenant – brings to the Project a thorough knowledge and enthusiasm for the history and heritage of the development of the Church in Scotland in its various forms – also brings access to various valuable networks of potential support for the Project.
Annie Armstrong
Annie is a freelance guide and runs a nature and outdoor experience company called Wild Braemar. She loves introducing people to the beautiful landscapes and wildlife around Braemar, including through cold water swimming in our local rivers. She also loves art, music and being part of the amazing community in Braemar. Annie wants to help St Margarets thrive as an arts and music venue to make Braemar an even more vibrant place to live.
Lyndsey Boden
Venue Manager
Lyndsey is the Venue Manager at St Margaret’s Braemar. After studying music at Liverpool Hope University she started her career in events organisation. Boasting an impressive range of experience in events management during her eight years working at three major hotels in Liverpool, Lyndsey returned to Aberdeenshire eight years ago to raise her family in the neighbouring village of Ballater. Herself a woodwind musician and chorister, Lyndsey has performed in a number of high-profile venues both across the U.K. and Europe. She has organised and supervised events for the likes of Sir Paul McCartney and Andre Rieu.
Colin Hunter OBE
Treasurer
Colin retired after 33 years in practice as a GP in Skene, Aberdeenshire in June 2018. He and his wife, Fiona, have had a house in Braemar since 2005 and have been supporters of St Margaret's since it moved to be an arts venue. They are now permanent residents in the village and have immersed themselves in the wonderful community that is Braemar. Colin has considerable charity Trustee experience. He is Chair of the Board of Governors at Robert Gordon University, a Trustee of Drinkaware and is involved with a number of groups within the village. His passion is to establish St Margaret's as one of the top rural performance and exhibition venues in Scotland for a variety of genres, ensuring that the key features of the building are retained whilst providing a first class space for performers and audience.
Brian Wood
Resident of Braemar, associated with the village for over fifty years – former secondary Headteacher, Deputy Convenor of the Board of the Cairngorms National Park Authority, Justice of the Peace and Honorary Sheriff for Grampian, Highland and Islands, currently Director of the Cairngorms Trust– brings enthusiasm and commitment to the Project.
Donald Sharples
Donald is local Crathie resident and a retired oil & gas professional of many years standing: working both locally and internationally in various technical, management and consultancy roles.
Since retiring Donald has worked extensively in music promotion and the voluntary sector. In this capacity he has worked with a lot of young musicians on the Scottish scene. He is one of the founders of Jazz at the Bluelamp in Aberdeen and currently serves as ‘booker’ for the club. He has been instrumental in initiating various international collaborations for Scottish, Polish and Belgian musicians.
Donald is keen on the outdoors, gardening, baking bread, cultural exchanges and is a member of the Aberdeenshire Saxophone Orchestra.
