When Morven Mackenzie made the move to Aberdeen at the age of 19 she knew the city would play a big part in both her life and career.
And her feeling was right with the mum-of-three going on to forge a successful career in PR and make a significant impact on the city’s third sector.
Morven spent years running her own business and is the mastermind behind the vibrant Celebrate Aberdeen event.
She believes Aberdeen really is a “tale of two cities” and there’s huge potential for both the charity and private sector to work together.
Aberdeen holds a special place in Morven’s heart
Originally the Orcadian wanted to be a primary school teacher but a change in heart saw her end up studying at Robert Gordon University.
Morven, who left Stromness Academy at the end of sixth year, said: “I wanted to be a primary teacher and I did head off to Moray House in Edinburgh to do teacher training but I lasted only six months.
“I was incredibly homesick so had to leave.
“I ended up applying for a course at RGU which was a fairly generic business degree.
“Moving to Aberdeen I was really excited about it and obviously it was different to being in Edinburgh.
“I was in a different headspace and really enjoyed my time in Aberdeen.”
When Morven finished her degree in 1995 she started working on a dredging newswire in the city before heading to Southampton where she got a job as a reporter on a monthly IT magazine called Service International.
In 1997 she moved to London and joined PR agency, Profile PR.
Morven, who is married to Kevin, 50, said: “Working for the magazine did teach me how to get in touch with people and write quickly.
“That was what got me in to the world of media but when I move to London I went in to PR.
“I think people think PR is an easy career to go in to. I always find it’s very specialised and strategic. It wasn’t as easy a move as I expected it to be.
“The fact I had the writing skills made it more transferable.
“Working in London was very exciting but I then wanted to come home. It was always the plan to come back to Scotland.”
Family the driver behind business
Morven, 52, made the move back to the Granite City in 1999 and joined global PR consultancy Weber Shandwick as an account director working primarily in energy industry for four years.
In 2003 she left Weber Shandwick and set up her own business Mackenzie PR.
It was a testing time for Morven who already had a toddler and was pregnant with her second child.
She said: “I had a toddler and decided to go self employed. Really the driver was to be at home more and spend time with the wee ones.
“PR and media relations is a demanding job and I was working a lot of the emergency response stuff for the company.
“I felt I wanted to take more control of the hours I worked and I felt freelance was the way to do that.
“Quickly it became apparent I had to employ someone and that happened within the first three months. The team grew from there to nine people within eight years.
“What I thought would be a quieter life ended up being very busy which is what anyone who is self-employed will know.”
Support Aberdeen’s ‘priority neighbourhoods’
In 2011 Mackenzie PR joined forces with Jasmine Holdings to acquire design business Covey McCormick, creating one of Aberdeen’s first integrated marketing agencies – Citrus:Mix.
Morven, mum to Rebecca, 23, Kiera, 20 and Robbie, 15, left there in 2017 and joined Hampton where she spent seven years, with five of those working as managing director.
But last year Morven made the decision to leave Hampton and set up her new charitable organisation All Life Chances.
For the past 15 months she has been supporting local charity, Aberdeen Lads Club Community Project, but also working with Northfield Community Centre, Byron Boxing, and Northfield Academy.
The charity aims to work closely with the private sector to garner its support, not only in terms of its financial giving, but also staff time and specialist skill sets.
Charity work is something that’s always been hugely important to Morven, who is also a befriender at Befriend A Child.
City faces challenges
She started Celebrate Aberdeen in 2011 which see thousands of representatives – staff, volunteers and services – from more than 140 charities walking down Union Street together in a display of unity, coming together in a positive and celebratory manner.
Morven, who recently took on the role of deputy lieutenant of the city of Aberdeen, said: “I was on holiday in Washington DC when I saw a parade go past.
“I had the idea that maybe we could have a parade going through Aberdeen to promote the third sector and how diverse it is.
“There’s no doubt the city faces a number of significant challenges just now.
“The ongoing cost of living crisis continues to put real pressure on many, and often our most vulnerable.
“The fact that one in five children in Aberdeen lives in poverty is hugely indicative of that.
“I’ve heard far too many comments recently about people having to choose whether to feed their family or heat their house.
“It’s just not acceptable and more needs to be done to help.
“I actually thought I knew quite a lot about what was happening across Aberdeen through my voluntary work with Celebrate Aberdeen, but the reality is I didn’t know half of it. I don’t think I’m alone in that.
“Aberdeen really is a tale of two cities.
“But we do have a hugely active third sector in the city, made up of charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups, all of whom are carrying out great work to help others, albeit under increasingly tough conditions. I’m not sure where we’d be without them!”
Morven works alongside Susan Crighton and Lara Munro at All Life Chances.
The trio are hoping they can encourage everyone to come together to make a change.
Morven said: “What we need to do now, as far as I see it, is all work together to bring about real, positive and lasting change.
“By ‘all’ I mean the third sector, local business community, local authority, Scottish and UK governments and ourselves, as individual citizens.
“We’ve all heard the expression ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ but in this instance perhaps it should be ‘a city’, with a strong sense of community at the heart of everything we do.”
Conversation