Moray Firth Ganseys

Managed by:

Moray Firth Partnership

Project Description

This is a joint project with Highland and Moray LEADER Programmes and will create employment for a full-time Officer to run a 2-year programme to research and promote the history of the tradition of gansey hand knitting in fishing communities.  The cultural and heritage aspects of the project will involve coastal communities and will encourage visitors, increasing awareness of the important cultural and fishing heritage of the Moray Firth area.  The lost skills of gansey knitting will be developed through training workshops and events.

Quote from Participating Organisation

Kathryn Logan, Moray Firth Partnership Manager

“We are delighted that LEADER has approved funding towards our Gansey Heritage Project, particularly because the funding is across all three LEADER areas covering the Moray Firth, ensuring that the whole area will benefit equally from the project.  The LEADER funding represents the last critical element of our funding package, adding to £50,000 offered by the Heritage Lottery Fund, ensuring this project will now proceed.

The LEADER funding allows us to include important ‘non-heritage’ elements of the project that could not be funded through the HLF.  This includes identifying new inward tourism opportunities, promoting a quality craft producer network across the Moray Firth area and helping to keep gansey patterns and traditions alive through use in other media and by promoting the craft through schools and community groups.”