Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Montrose Basin Visitor Centre, having first opened to the public on 27th June 1995. If you’ve visited the centre over the years, you’ll know how knowledgeable and friendly our volunteers are, and we’re incredibly lucky to have volunteers who have been at the centre for its entire history. Visitors, and new staff, have learned so much from these volunteers over the years.

I know I wouldn’t be able to tell a curlew from a whimbrel if it weren’t for the expertise that exists within our volunteer team, and I definitely wouldn’t be able to tell you what all the various electrical switches do around the building if I didn’t have our volunteer Andy Wakelin able to answer all my weird questions over the phone!

I asked two of our longest serving volunteers, Jane Stewart and Andy Wakelin – who have both volunteered at the centre since it first opened – to write us a little bit about their time with the Scottish Wildlife Trust over the last 30 years.

Jane Stewart

I have been volunteering at the visitor centre since it opened 30 years ago.  

I have always been interested in people and, having spent most weekends at the sailing club, was keen to learn more about the Basin. Thanks to the variety of visitors and knowledgeable staff, I still really enjoy my Friday afternoons.  

At the beginning, the Wildlife Centre, as it was then called, was open until 7pm, and manned every 2 hours by 2 volunteers. I was on a late shift with Ann Wyllie, the talented embroiderer who organised the tapestry which has been on display in the centre since it opened. I always dreaded being told the windows needed to be cleaned! 

Andy Wakelin

The chance to volunteer came about as the Basin Centre was nearing completion and the call for help in running the new facility matched my interest in watching and photographing wildlife and birds in particular. Some short training sessions and we started interacting with visitors and evolving the style and quality of our presentations. 

The joy of our role is that we meet a lot of visitors who have similar interests, but also a lot that have little or no knowledge of wildlife and we can guide them into appreciating what is to be seen outside the Viewing Gallery. 

I got involved in talking to visitors first and later utilised my skills in technology to help out with computers and the video cameras that were being installed around the centre. The camera on the tern raft was a particular challenge, not only in getting out there but also in trying to keep it working. Eventually, of course, it had to be abandoned as the cabling to it snapped under the strain of the wind and waves. 

I also started a website devoted to the Basin, although not really part of my role, it provides a useful source of information for visitors and other volunteers as well. 

The major redevelopment of the Centre in 2004 gave volunteers direct input into the text and images that would be used in the interpretation displays, although working with the design firm was a bit of a nightmare. 

“A volunteer is worth ten pressed men (or women!)” 

This is the employers view, however. What it means to me as a volunteer is that I am engaged in an activity (birdwatching) that gives me great pleasure and also means that I meet staff and other volunteers with the same passion. They also have very different experience and bring different personal views and expertise that informs and entertains in equal measure. It is also gratifying to contribute towards the objectives of an organisation that does so much for the wildlife of Scotland. 

This all means that it is, in modern parlance, “a no-brainer” to go the Montrose Basin Visitor Centre and make a contribution and also have a good time.