AGBC 10 years on

Join us for a trip down memory as we take a look back at The Alexander Graham Bell Centre for Digital Health (AGBCentre) 10 years on.

Since its inception in 2014 the centre has become a hub for both our local and national community hosting over 6000 events, provided a space for community led groups to meet weekly and played home to numerous tenants including the Scottish Ambulance Service.  

The staff

With the creation of the centre came employment opportunities and since 2016 the centre has welcomed 4 people to the Events Co-ordinator role:

Georgia Mckenzie – as the first events co-ordinator, Georgia was an important figure for the structure of the job role and for managing and creating new events.  The biggest event she co-ordinated in her post was the Chamber Dinner which hosted 200 people, a real achievement for the centre where a lot was learnt! 

Kirsty Fraser – our current events co-ordinator Kirsty has been with the centre since 2018 (taking over from Georgia) and has seen the centre transform into the success that it is today. Over the past 6 years she has created, managed and developed several events including; Winterfest, Freshers Fayre and Seminar Series.  Kirsty has also been the main contact for all NHS and external lets developing and creating long lasting working relationships with clients.

Shannon Taylor -  a familiar face to our Beechtree Restaurant customers, Shannon was seconded to support the AGBC while Kirsty was on maternity leave and the Beechtree Restaurant was closed during COVID.

Lorna Leil – in 2023 the AGBCentre found itself in need of a maternity cover and Lorna, a UHI Moray Events Management graduate, stepped up to the plate.  During her studies Lorna founded the Moray Blue Light Festival along with her classmates and 4 years on the event is bigger than ever. As the events co-ordinator Lorna continued Kirsty’s legacy of fostering strong relationships with clients and creating events for the community.

Our events co-ordinators have also supported students undertaking work experience placements and internships. In 2020 the centre also gave Duncan May, a BA (Hons) Fine Art student the opportunity to design the wall mural which runs along the conference room corridor.

"I have linked the design with existing graphics in the AGBC Café Area to create more of a presence for the Centre. Within my design I've included elements inspired by communication, binary code, gene codes, the tree of knowledge, sound and vision. I really enjoyed this project and had great fun doing it." - Duncan May

Collaboration with the NHS

The NHS have been a big contributor to the Centre running a variety of courses such as;

• Immediate Life Support
• Advanced Life Support
• Corporate Induction
• Health & Safety, Moving & Handling

and many more in their second floor working rooms which include a Mock Ward, Resuscitation Room, Minor Surgery and Health & Safety room.  Every day, 5 days a week, these rooms are booked up with training and development sessions.

They also run important community led sessions in the Community hub including; Infant Feeding, Antenatal, Healthpoint Sessions and Peep.

Notable events

Whilst all the events hosted within the facility are of great significance, we have a few that have stood out:

(Convention of the Highlands and Islands) COHI: Throughout the years the centre has played host to COHI which aims strengthen alignment between Scottish Government and member organisations in order to support our economy.

Moray Game Jam – This yearly event was one of the first to take place in the centre and brings together gaming enthusiasts, industry leaders and educators for 48-hours of creativity, collaboration, and fun.

Moray Blue Lights Festival – Created by our very own graduates to celebrate the emergency services, this yearly summer event brings families and the services together for an afternoon of fun and education.

Open Days, Freshers and UCAS Fayres – Multiple times a year the conference room is transformed into a marketplace hub for our staff, partners and community organisations to inspire the next generation of learners.

Speyside Stages – Every year the Centre is transformed into the operations base of the Speyside stages, a stage rally which is the first in the Scottish Rally Championship.

Seminar Series - Since 2016 the Seminar Series promotes research projects with the very first session covering Knowledge Engineering and Discovery Research. 

Winterfest / Community Festive Gathering – Held before the Christmas holidays, these events bring staff, students, organisations and our community together to spread the festive spirit.

The tenants

The upper floor of our centre has played home to a variety of different tenants who have occupied the research rooms with some significant projects taking place within the building including:

The Scottish Ambulance Service – Our longest serving tenants, The Scottish Ambulance Service’s education department used the centre to provide a 14 week VQ4 Technician Course for the North of Scotland.

Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI) – Providing a cutting-edge facility, they explore the limitless potential of digital health and care innovation. As a pivotal component of the Rural Centre of Excellence project, a significant initiative under the Moray Growth Deal (funded by the UK Government), they are poised to play a key role in shaping the future of healthcare in Moray.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) – Our newest tenants SDS are experts in helping people develop plans for their future careers and learning.

Thank you to all our customers and our community for supporting us and our events over the past ten years, we couldn’t have done it without you!