Can you Benefit from this?
The Elgin local office of the Benefits Agency is part of the Highlands and Islands district which covers the North of Scotland and Isles, apart from Shetland.  Our address is 21 Trinity Road, Elgin, IV30 1RJ.  We give advice and information on a wide range of social security benefits.  A staff of around 55 process and pay some benefits locally and help a wide range of customers; sick/disabled people, pensioners, widows, carers, lone parents, people on low incomes.
Our opening hours are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 8.30 am - 4.00 pm, Wednesday 10.00 am - 4.00 pm and Friday 8.30 am - 3.30 pm.  We aim to see you within 10 minutes.  Our reception is on the ground floor.  If you prefer to be seen in private, please ring our customer services department to make an appointment.
Many customers prefer to contact us by phone.  Our switchboard is open from 9.00 am - 4.30 pm, Monday-Friday, except on Wednesday when lines open from 10.00 am.  Ring us on (01343) 528000 or if you are calling from outwith the local area, use our linkline number and the charge will just cost the price of a local call - 0345 090757.  We also have a special textphone for the deaf - ring 0345 959003.
We also have a limited visiting service.  If you are unable to call in person, we will try to visit you in your own home.  Again, visits are by prior arrangement.  Please ring our customer services section for further information.
Tune in to my regular fortnightly programme - 'Benefit from Advice' on Keith Community Radio!!  Programmes are advertised in The Northern Scot.  You can find Keith Community Radio on 102.8 MHz FM.  I also do a regular monthly spot on the Moray Companion - our local talking newspaper for the blind.
Sheila MacDonald,
Customer Services Manager,
Benefits Agency, Elgin.

Competition Winners
The following people won bottles of Famous Grouse Gold Reserve Whisky in last month's competition.  Names were drawn by staff at Glen Rothes Distillery:
Marion Wilkie, c/o 74 Land Street, Rothes
Mr. N. McDonald, 16 Forsyth Avenue, Rothes
Mr. Pert, Old School House, Rothes
The Children's Competition Winners were:
Under 16's Word Search
Yori Johnston, 27 Provost Christie Drive
Samantha Taylor, 19 Dailuaine Terrace, Carron
Under 7's
Claire Younie, 26 Breich Street
Emma Reid, 52 Green Street

The Rothesian Group feel that the poem opposite was written by the late John Gray.  Could anyone confirm this?

Bonnie Rothes
There's times in rhymin' mood I feel,
As happy memories over me steal
O' that wee place I lo'e sae weel,
My native toon o' Rothes.
I tack the road by Birkenhill,
Sine pass Longmorn an' the aul' 'oo' mill,
Where reek doth rise fae every Still
On the road that leads tae Rothes.
Past Fogwatt, an' up the brae,
On ma left the former bed o' Spey,
An' Coleburn hoosies by the way,
An' sine the Glen o' Rothes.
Twixt wavin' hills on either side
Adorned in a' their heathery pride,
Come loons, come quines wi' me tae glide
Through the bonnie Glen o' Rothes.
I've dander'd doon't in sunny days
Beneath the sun's enlivenin' rays,
An' felt I couldna overpraise
The bonnie Glen o' Rothes.
Acquainted am I to its haunts,
An' oft when on ma wee bit jaunts,
The peace ma toon-tired spirit wants
I find in the Glen o' Rothes.
Through Birchfield I'd next view tae gain,
Sine speedin' doon the brae Drumbain,
Far wi' ma sledge I raced the train
An' landed safe in Rothes.
It's even time I lo'e the best,
'Tis when athwart the hill-tops' crest,
The sun creeps gently doon the west
In the Dounie Glen o' Rothes.
The prospects doth the spirit hold,
As wi' a beauty all untold,
The tints o' purple, crimson, gold,
Light up the Haugh o' Rothes.
Enraptured, we exclaim, sublime,
It's hard for me to write in rhyme
The glories o' the sunset time
In the Gibbet Den o' Rothes.
In snaw, in frost, in rain, in shine,
I love this heritage o' mine,
There's a welcome there for a' mankin',
In oor Speyside toon o' Rothes.
There's them that came, and them that went,
An' them tae come when years are spent,
If natives be, or fowk that's lent,
Dee a' y can for Rothes.
I've tried tae tell ye o' the past,
The future, na, I'll nae forecast,
My cherished hopes realised at last,
A book for you on Rothes.
May future scribes, quines or men,
Complete ma diary tae the en'
O, that I had a worthier pen
Tae tell yo o' aul' Rothes.