A determined soldier will put his resilience to a test this weekend as he takes on the Edinburgh Marathon to raise money for Fraserburgh Heritage Centre.
Born and bred in the Broch, Jake Noble was determined to come to the aid of the award-winning visitor attraction after it was nearly destroyed in Storm Arwen.
The museum suffered devastating damages when the roof of the building was almost completely ripped off – exposing hundreds of irreplaceable artefacts to the elements.
Volunteers of the Fraserburgh Heritage Society have since been hard at work, raising thousands to restore the museum from scratch and bring it back to life.
Fraserburgh Heritage Centre ‘keystone to ancestry’
As his great uncle had donated one of the most popular exhibits – the last working yole boat to leave the Broadsea shore – Mr Noble said his family has always had a special connection with the centre.
And now, he is pulling on his running shoes for the Edinburgh Marathon on Sunday to give back to the charity he holds dear to his heart.
The 28-year-old, who serves with the third battalion of The Royal Regiment of Scotland, said: “There is always a bit of pressure because people are relying on you, but I wanted to do the marathon for charity and for something that will benefit the Broch.
“I’ve always thought very highly of the heritage centre for everything they do. We used to go there as kids and they now take very good care of our family yole boat so I wanted to give something back.
“They really are the keystone to our ancestry and I’m just trying to raise as much money as I possibly can to help them rebuild after the damage from the storm.”
Storm Arwen caused devastating damage
The entire exhibition area within the building also requires full refurbishment as all of the structures which have been put up in the last 20 years will need to be replaced.
Volunteers have so far raised nearly £10,000 to fund the restoration of the museum, however, charity co-director Barry Scott said there is still a lot more to be done.
Volunteers had been unable to even enter the building up until recently as the structure was deemed unstable due to the extensive damage to the roof.
But as members finally got the opportunity to return to the museum in February, Mr Scott is now hoping they will be able to start the revamp within the next few months.
Community rallies to rebuild museum ‘from scratch’
He said the overwhelming support from the local community and Mr Noble is a real testimony of the incredible resilience of the town.
Mr Scott added: “We were very pleasantly surprised that somebody as young as Jake would take something like this upon himself.
“We are all volunteers here – we do it in our own time and at our own cost – and having people react and respond the way the people in the Broch have, makes it all worthwhile.
“It encourages us (to) want to do it again and reinvent the heritage centre in a new phase, to build on our first experience and move forward from it.
“I’m hoping that people in the Broch will get behind us once we know what the process is going to be and help rebuild the heritage of the town.”
People can donate to support the Fraserburgh Heritage Centre by visiting Mr Noble’s GoFundMe page.
Conversation