About the Gathering 2009

The Gathering 2009 is a celebration of the culture and history of Scotland. The two-day event on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th July will be the greatest international clan gathering the world has ever seen, and the largest Highland Games to have been held in Scotland.

This unique event is a chance for Scots everywhere to celebrate their roots and one of Scotland's greatest traditions, Highland Games, as well as an opportunity to thank the clan associations and Scottish societies from around the world for their role in keeping these traditions alive.

The Gathering 2009 Ltd was setup in February 2007 and has received public funding from EventScotland, City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian. This was granted on the basis that the event would provide a 18:1 return on investment to Scotland as a whole.

The Gathering 2009 is a signature event of Homecoming Scotland 2009, a year-long government initiative aimed at encouraging those with a passion or connection with Scotland to come home.

For many years Scotland has witnessed a decline in the popularity of Highland Games and a near extinction of clan activity. However, the opposite is true in some countries, especially in North America, where clan membership exceeds 100,000 and over 300 Highland Games and festivals are held annually.

Over the past few years there has been an overall strengthening of national identity within Scotland. This has provided an ideal environment in which to celebrate the contribution that the clans and their descendants have made to maintaining national traditions.

This strengthening will be enhanced by providing an educational component which will encourage people to try out the various disciplines and learn more about them. Additionally there will be an emphasis on youth participation which will be nurtured through an education programme prior to the event.

Lord Sempill, co-director of The Gathering 2009 Ltd 

Jamie has over 32 years of commercial management experience in marketing and communications, and spent over 12 years living and working overseas, mainly in South Africa. In 1995 he inherited one of Scotland's oldest titles and took his seat in the House of Lords.  During 1998 he became actively involved in the Scottish devolution debate, and in May 1999 stood for Edinburgh North and Leith in the inaugural Scottish Parliamentary elections. He retains a great interest in Scottish politics and was actively involved in the 2007 parliamentary elections.

More recently, he has been an export sales manager for a whisky distiller, and director of marketing for a brewery. In between he spent 6 months in the USA promoting a Scottish affinity card scheme.

His hobbies include looking at fine art, watching rugby, scuba diving, reading history and listening to the Blues.

He is a member of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, a High Constable of the Port of Leith, and Vice-Convenor of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.

 

Jenny Gilmour, co-director of The Gathering 2009 Ltd 

Jenny's first job in event management was over 15 years ago when she co-ordinated 'Fringe Sunday', a major part of Edinburgh's famous Fringe Festival at which 200,000 people turned up!

Since then she has worked in the UK and around the world as a freelance event director on major sporting events, large corporate occasions and bespoke private events. She has worked at some of the world's great event venues including Sydney Opera House, London's Wembley Stadium, Gleneagles Hotel and Edinburgh Castle, showcasing famous names such as Hollywood actor Brian Cox, violinist Nicola Benedetti and many other stars from the worlds of sport and entertainment.

Jenny is owner and managing director of 'Red Sky at Night', a small but expert team of event managers based in Edinburgh who are the production team behind 'The Gathering 2009'.

She has a passion for Scottish music and culture (and shoe shopping) and one of her favourite projects of recent years was creating a trilogy of Alternative Burns Suppers for the global drinks company, Diageo.

 

Lucy-Rose Walker, Co-ordinator 

Lucy-Rose studied Psychology at Glasgow University where she took a keen interest in the psychology of marketing.  Her first job took her around North America promoting a Tartan Credit Card, alongside Lord Sempill.

Having experienced the passion and enthusiasm for Scotland felt by so many American Scots she went on to conceptualise & develop the board game Scottish Quest.

After 3 years of brand development and a number of distribution deals she felt it was time for a new challenge  -  The Gathering 2009.

She enjoys experiencing new cultures, especially trying different foods!

 

 

Pamela Jackman, Events and Administration Assistant

Pamela moved to Edinburgh in 2003 after completing a communications degree at the University of Ulster Jordanstown. She worked for 2 years in administration for the Fringe Society, after which she taught English in Prague for 6 months.

After returning to Edinburgh she worked for 2 festivals as an assistant promoters liaison office at the Fringe. Between festivals she worked as a manager at The World Bar on Thistle street.

 

Ros Davies, Events Administrator and Project Manager

Ros moved to Edinburgh in 2004 from Derbyshire, after working for several years in lifelong learning and IT, to work for RCN Scotland as a Project Network Coordinator. 

Living in Edinburgh and enjoying the many festivals and events, it wasn't long before she wanted to get involved and moved from the RCN to Edinburgh International Science Festival.  She was the Festival Administrator for the 2007 and 2008 Talks Programme, organising and managing events and venues, before joining The Gathering 2009.

Out of the office, Ros enjoys visits to the theatres and art galleries and sketching (badly).  She also enjoys relaxing with a glass of wine with friends around Leith.

 

Iona Scott, Media and PR Manager

Iona has worked in the media for over a decade, the majority of which as a news and sport reporter for STV primarily on their flagship programme "Scotland Today". She was also the reporter on Scotsport Rugby Roundup which involved spending a lot of time outside on dreich winter days!

However, it did not curb her enthusiasm for the sport, and she joined the Scottish Rugby communications department before moving to Edinburgh Rugby to become Media Manager, travelling to all the professional team's matches in Ireland, Wales, England and France. She was also involved with the concerts held at Murrayfield in the summer of 2007. She was then fortunate to work with the Scotland team at the Rugby World Cup in France later the same year, and has also hosted awards dinners and spoken at other dinners and lunches.

Before joining The Gathering 2009, Iona spent a few months travelling extensively in South America, experiencing a myriad adventures across the continent. Away from the office, she enjoys watching rugby, going to exhibitions, and spending time with family and friends.

  

Martin Hutchison, Events Manager

After leaving school Martin worked as an electrician for ten years in the shipyards and construction industry around Scotland. After training in Youth and Community work he went on to support young people and adults who were homeless and inadequately housed in Brighton.

For the last fifteen years he has worked in Edinburgh developing and managing projects for young people from a diverse range of backgrounds and has involved them in theatre, dance, sports, outdoor activities, international exchanges and expeditions.

His career has taken him into Project Management responsible for a number of local, national and international events including the UK Holocaust Memorial Day; the national event in Rwanda commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Genocide, a programme of events leading up to the G8 summit and more recently The Edinburgh Sport Relief Mile.

He is also a qualified and practicing massage therapist at the renowned Napiers Clinic in Edinburgh. In his spare time he loves watching football, going to Thai boxing classes and being a taxi driver for his two children.

 

Cathy Dick, Events Manager (with Pip, the office dog)

Cathy's first job in Events was with the Gilded Balloon Theatre during the Edinburgh Festival over 18 years ago, she enjoyed it so much that she decided to study Management of the Arts and Live Events.

Having completed the course Cathy has been involved in Events ever since and has worked for several Fringe Venues in different capacities from Front of House, Box Office , Bar Management and Administration. Cathy has also worked on several large scale outdoor events such as the MTV Awards when hosted in Edinburgh, The Special Olympics opening in Glasgow, Lord Provost Parades and Pageants and various Charity Events.

Before joining The Gathering Cathy was employed by the Edinburgh Fringe as an Events Coordinator for the last seven years where she was responsible for programming and running the outdoor Stages and entertainment on the Royal Mile. Cathy has also been working for Edinburgh's Winter Wonderland as their General Manager for as long as she can remember.

In her spare time she enjoys the cinema, theatre and visual arts but her favourite pastime is spending time walking on the beach with her West Highland Terrier ‘Milou' whenever possible.

 

Ginie Naisby,  Events Administrator and Designer

Ginie first moved to Scotland in 1995 to go to the University of Edinburgh - after graduating, she never really left! Armed with an MA in English Language and Linguistics, she began working at the Assembly Theatre during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and has now been involved in the arts and events for 13 years.

Before joining The Gathering 2009, Ginie was employed under two seasonal six-month contracts, the first with the Edinburgh Fringe as an Assistant Events Manager working together with Cathy on the Fringe High Street; in the winter months, Ginie could be found near-frozen solid in her role as Assistant General Managing Edinburgh's Winter Wonderland!

Somehow, along with her events responsibilities, Ginie also managed to fit in four years of working for the Sunday Herald Newspaper on their graphics desk.

When our half-French, bilingual Ginie is not working, she can be found running, climbing, swimming, cycling and generally trying to appear to be fit and healthy... she also loves trying to do things that she is not necessarily any good at like surfing, sea kayaking and other relatively dangerous but exciting pastimes.