Inspirational women of GCP – meet Milly

Meet Milly our inspiring Events Manager

In July 2022, Milly packed her bags in her hometown Plymouth, climbed into her car with her two beloved Chihuahua dogs, Duke and Blue, and drove the long journey north to start a new life and new job.

Milly is our Events Manager at the Grassmarket Community Project. She is pictured above to the right of Catherine and Hazel, all fantastically inspiring women of GCP. We were keen to ask Milly more about what she does, why she does it and who inspires her along the way.

Milly and The Grassmarket Community Project

Milly promotes and manages our much sought-after events service, one of the Project’s vital social enterprises. You will have seen her around the building, expertly managing a wide variety of events for a diverse range of clients,

‘I manage an exceptional events service in an exceptional location, right in the heart of Edinburgh. With flexible services and facilities between our Main Hall, meeting rooms and two cafes, we cater for a wide variety of private and professional events. From weddings and ceilidhs; to conferences, training days and smaller meetings; to book signings, performances and film screenings. We also have successful outside bespoke catering for lunches, business gatherings and private functions, so yes, I’m busy!’

Our events service attracts clients who want to make more ethical and socially responsibly choices. We appreciate the support of our regular clients and, as most new business comes from word of mouth, we must be doing something right.

As Milly says,

‘Organisations and individual clients wouldn’t keep coming back if we didn’t provide a tailored service and excellent food from our kitchens. We like to be in demand.’

Milly’s work ethic and inspiration

Managing such a busy programme of events needs a dedicated and experienced leader and Milly is rightly proud of her strong work ethic,

‘I get my work ethic from my mum who brought up 7 children whilst training to be a solicitor. She’s a grandma now but she is still motivated by her work and I find that inspiring. 

Milly started working in cafes at 14, moving on to manage restaurants by the age of 22. It was around this time that she decided to go back into education. By then she had a good idea of what she wanted to do. She went on to pass her A levels in 9 months, started a Business and Law access course, then realised that a degree in Event Management was possible,

‘I had always loved managing events and I am good at it. It was fantastic to realise I could make a career out of doing something I love.’

To fund her studies, Milly worked full time in a restaurant. She also volunteered at a hospice. The hospice loved her so much; they offered her a permanent part time job on their events team. Milly successfully juggled two jobs, whilst studying!

Working at the hospice opened Milly’s eyes to the pleasures and challenges of charity work, experience which would lead her to The Grassmarket Community Project.

We are so thankful to have Milly heading up our events team. She works tirelessly to create successful events for all of our clients. Working alongside Catherine Jones, our celebrated Social Enterprise Director, is the perfect fit for Milly,

‘Honestly since I met Catherine, I have been so inspired by her. She is so driven, throws herself into everything and I am so lucky to have the opportunity to learn from her and work with her every day.’

What’s next for Milly and her team?

Milly is always on the lookout for new opportunities to develop the events service, welcome more people through our doors and in turn help support GCP,

‘Keep an eye on what’s coming up! We are excited to be running our own programme of public events in the months ahead.  All profits from these events go back into helping our members – they are the reason for everything we do.’

Find out more about our Events Services >>

See latest on our Spring Events programme below