Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Stress warning as ‘second mum’ to Angus youngsters receives town’s top honour

Fiona Forbes and Elliot Thorne.
Fiona Forbes and Elliot Thorne.

Snowballing stress is having a “huge” impact on young people, according to a long-serving dance teacher and freshly chosen Carnoustie citizen of the year.

Fiona Forbes, 56, founder of the Angus Centre for Performing Arts, received the top honour on October 25 during a ceremony in the Legion Hall in Dundee Street, Carnoustie.

Hailed as a “second mum” to generations of dancers in the Angus town, Fiona said her role in the dance school has changed through the years and she is now providing as much support to young people as dancing expertise.

Left to right is Paul Grant (chairman Mackay’s), Fiona Forbes, Arliss Rhind (chairman Carnoustie Community Council), Elliot Thorne and Dr David Rorie (vice-chairman Carnoustie Community Council).

She said: “I just see the pressures that are on the kids now. They’re huge. When it comes to exams they are hugely stressed and there’s a huge fear of failing, which I hate to hear.

“Between that and social media. Kids today deal with so much more than I ever did, or even my own girls when they were younger.

“I think it’s snowballing. I just want to keep on supporting them as much as I can and making sure there’s a space for them to come to.”

She said dance helps young people in a number of ways.

“It makes them more disciplined and good at juggling time. It gives them an escape from other things that are going on and keeps them busy. I think the more young people are involved in things, the better.”


Follow our special series at www.thecourier.co.uk/tay


Fiona, who has been teaching dance in the town for 24 years, said she was “overwhelmed and a bit embarrassed” to receive the citizen of the year honour.

“I just think of it as doing my job. I had a little bubble when I found out, as I do.”

Fiona initially planned to pause her career in dance when she moved to Carnoustie but she found it too difficult to turn her back on her passion and a handful of local classes ultimately grew into a centre with 420 students, including working with her daughters Eilidh and Beth, teaching everything from ballet to tap.

Community council chairman Arliss Rhind, which organises the annual citizen of the year ceremony, said: “hundreds if not thousands of young people” in the Angus town had benefited from Fiona’s “dedication and love.”

“She is regarded as a second mum by all of them,” he added.

The young citizen award was awarded to nine-year-old schoolboy Elliot Thorne, who climbed Ben Nevis accompanied by him mum Kim to raise funds for the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH).