As we celebrate 60 years of championing Scotland’s wildlife, this blog series will share stories from just a few of the hundreds of Trust volunteers who are making a difference today.

Our long term volunteers

Longstanding volunteers help the Scottish Wildlife Trust all year round. They are committed to the ethos of the organisation and through regular volunteering are a dependable, reliable and sometimes under-acknowledged part of our work.

Such volunteers exist throughout the Trust and this blog highlights the work of just three volunteers to whom we owe our ongoing thanks.

Jim Mitchell – Falls of Clyde Tuesday Group

Jim Mitchell: “A job well done gives a lot of satisfaction” © Clare Toner

 

In his working life, Jim was a bank Manager who lived and worked in the Clyde area. He had always enjoyed the outdoors and was a long distance walker.

Consequently, he was already aware of the Scottish Wildlife Trust and in 2008 approached staff member Lyndsay Mark before becoming a volunteer at Falls of Clyde.

During his 16 years of service, Jim initially helped with Peregrine Watch, but since this finished in 2015 he has regularly volunteered with the Tuesday Group undertaking practical management tasks around the Falls of Clyde reserve.

Jim loves meeting people and both the reserve staff and volunteers in the Tuesday Group have become friends with whom he can share a laugh and a joke.

He also enjoys the fresh air and “outdoor gym” experience where he is exercising without knowing it!

Jim enjoys contributing to the Trust’s work and particularly enjoys creating a visible end product such as a new seat, repaired section of boardwalk or a restored path surface.

 

Mark Robertson – Volunteer with Reserves Project Officer, East Central region.

Mark delivering a tools talk to a Corporate volunteer group at Jupiter © Julie Cunningham

 

Mark stayed at home to raise his children and when they were of school age, he felt at a loose end. Whilst taking his children to our reserve at Jupiter, he stumbled across the Scottish Wildlife Trust and hasn’t looked back!

He initially got involved with pre-planned volunteer sessions at Jupiter, and through this discovered the Reserves Project Group run by Keith Roberts. This opened up new possibilities for Mark as the group worked across a wider area and undertook a wide variety of different tasks. It was, in Mark’s words “one of the best things I’ve ever done”.

He became a key part of Keith’s volunteer group and was one of the first volunteers to return after Covid.

Volunteering gets Mark away from the house and gives him a daily focus. He enjoys the social aspect, being part of a team working towards a shared aim and likes problem solving. He has acquired new woodworking and construction skills and is proud of the tangible improvements he has made on reserves.

He sums up his volunteer experience as “every day is a nice memory, getting out, having a blether and a laugh”.

 

Jean Stewart – Reserve Convenor and volunteer coordinator in Fife

 

Jean moved to Fife 50 years ago and her lifelong interest in natural history led her to membership of the Trust. She has been actively involved ever since, particularly after her retirement from full time employment. She re- joined the Fife Local Group Committee (latterly becoming Chair) which led to service on the Trust’s Council.

Jean was also convenor at Bankhead Moss wildlife reserve for 15 years and acted as a mentor/coordinator for all reserve convenors across Fife, facilitating better communication between Fife convenors, the local Members’ Group and between this convenor group and the wider Trust.

At the time there was an educational element to local Branch outings and she learnt a huge amount through Trust staff and volunteers who “are a lot of fun and have a lot of knowledge”.

Jean particularly enjoyed her time as a reserve convenor, working and feeling part of a team, plus getting to know all the other convenors.

Despite having just stepped back from most of her Trust volunteering, Jean’s legacy continues; a network of reserve convenors still operates in Fife and the vegetation monitoring on our grassland reserves, which she helped instigate, is still carried out by local volunteers.

When Jim, Mark and Jean volunteer with the Trust, they feel part of a community of like-minded people and by volunteering they can give and receive in equal measure. They share a deeper connection with the Trust and are passionate about their work; it’s what keeps them returning for more.

Here’s to Jim, Mark and Jean and to other long standing Trust volunteers out there!

If you would like to volunteer with the Scottish Wildlife Trust, please head to our volunteering page to find out more information.

 

Read more 60th anniversary volunteer stories…

New volunteers

From volunteer to employee

Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels in Aberdeen