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Burghead
Community Leaders and The Clavie Crew receive Excellence Awards from
Grampian Police
Burghead Community Leaders and The Clavie Crew receive Excellence Awards from Grampian Police (CEG Jigsaw Piece)
The Annual Burning of the Clavie ceremony in Burghead is an event steeped in history and tradition as well as being a spectacular fire festival. In recent years the event has become known worldwide and attracts crowds of several thousand to Burghead to watch it every January. As a result the challenges of safely managing a crowd while negotiating a burning barrel around the streets of Burghead have heaped pressure on the Clavie Crew - the select band of Burghead residents eligible through tradition to carry on the event. The increasing numbers of spectators with minimal knowledge of the route also prompted concerns about their safety.
Two years ago, Sergeant Middlehurst, from the Lossiemouth and Fochabers Local Policing Team, commenced discussions with The Moray Council, Grampian Fire and Rescue Service, Burghead Community Council, The Clavie Crew and Local Councillor Eric McGillivray, to seek a safer way forward while retaining the tradition and spectacle of the event for generations to come. After a lot of hard work and negotiation a plan was worked out that allowed the Clavie Crew to concentrate on the ceremony itself with the event management burden lifted from their shoulders and passed to the Community Council. This paved the way for the emergency services to review their commitment to the event and further enhance the spectator safety.
The 2011 Burning of the Clavie saw the new procedures used for the first time with resounding success and praise from all quarters. Inspector Alistair Robertson, the Local Policing Team Inspector for Lossiemouth and Fochabers felt it was right that all the hard work should be recognised and nominated the planning team for the Partnerships Award at the Force's annual Excellence Awards held in October this year. The judging panel all agreed that an award was merited and Sgt Middlehurst, Burghead Community Council and The Clavie Crew all received Highly Commended Certificates. On Wednesday 2 November 2011 Inspector Robertson and Sergeant Middlehurst presented the Certificates to the Community Council and Clavie Crew in a small ceremony at The Bothy Cafe in
Burghead.
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