Citizen Of The Year

Roddy Barron, St Andrews Burns Club’s Citizen of the Year for 2024, is pictured, with the President receiving the George Cowie Glass and the David Robertson Malt – each named in honour of past Presidents of the Club, as is a third element of the award, a collected edition of Burns named for the late A.B.Paterson. All three gentlemen gave outstanding service to the St Andrews community in their time, as does Roddy Barron.

Roddy Barron not only contributed significantly to the community but particularly to Burns Club activities.

He started learning the bagpipes aged 9 being taught by his father Bert a long time Pipe Major. He won his first competition (Fife Solo Piping Championship) still aged 9 years old. At the age of 10 he became the youngest ever piper (a record which he still holds) to win the under 19 Pibroch championship at the Cowal Highland Gathering. His father also won the Gold Medal for the Senior Pibroch on the same day.

From the age of 14 he was Scottish Junior Piping Champion for 7 consecutive years and was presented with a trophy from the Queen in 1976 at the Braemar Highland Gathering. As well as playing solo, he played in 3 pipe bands of which his father was Pipe Major – the St Andrews Town Band, St Andrews University OTC (Officers Training Corps) and RAF Leuchars.

Roddy Barron has been an official piping instructor at Madras College for some 30 years. He is Pipe Band Leader of Madras College Pipe Band (because apparently there is always a pupil pipe major) and the band plays at many community events throughout the town, elsewhere in Fife, and Scotland, with the odd trip to Europe. Roddy Barron has helped many organisations in St Andrews and District over many years with their fund-raising events including the Rotary clubs, Action Research, and other charities by providing pipers or sometimes even full pipe bands often without remuneration. His support for the St Andrews Community and the Burns Club over the years has been second to none.