Volunteering with Arran Eco Savvy
We started 2018 with under 30 people volunteering with Arran Eco Savvy, and now have over 100. Greater volunteer support […]
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Meet The Board
Helen Ross – Trustee and Chair
Helen is the Eco Savvy Chair. Helen received a good grounding in public service & administration in the Civil Service before working in the voluntary sector placing people for work experience, planning community care services, providing an information service & developing community projects with older people in rural areas.
She is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health with 19 years experience working at local & regional level in Public Health to develop sustainable services that address the social, economic & environmental factors that influence our lifestyles & health. Improving insulation, installing renewable energy systems such as solar & air source, cycling & walking instead of driving, sourcing & growing food locally & organically, recycling, composting, & constructing environmentally friendly buildings can all contribute to our health & wellbeing as well as helping to reduce our carbon emissions & impact on Climate Change.
Helen moved to Arran in 2017 is an allotment holder on the Arran Community Land Initiative & a volunteer in the Eco Savvy Hub in Whiting Bay.
Sarah North- Trustee and Secretary
Sarah lives at Thundergay and moved to Arran in 2020, having fallen under Arran’s spell on a trip to the west coast of Scotland. Sarah has worked for Greenpeace in the UK and globally for over 25 years, designing campaign strategy. She now runs her own campaigning consultancy and is also a Trustee of Genewatch and the Pirnmill Village Association. She has a MSc in Nature Conservation from UCL and is passionate about helping Arran maximise it sustainability across its energy, food, waste and transport systems.”
Patricia Templeton – Trustee and Treasurer
I am a Chartered Internal Auditor, and also have qualifications in risk management. I retired to Arran with my husband in October 2019 following a career in both the public and private sectors, mainly Head of Audit roles in organisations as diverse as builders merchanting and the Scottish Prison Service. Latterly, I worked for British Telecom managing an organisation wide and worldwide programme of testing to ensure our compliance with New York Stock Exchange regulation.
As well as enjoying my new role at Eco Savvy, I am also a Trustee of the Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST) and can usually be found walking and training our two rescue dogs in the hills or beaches on our beautiful new home.
Donald McNicol – Trustee
Donald left the island in 1977 to (eventually) get a degree and even more eventually become a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He returned in 2013 for good and has since been involved with Whiting Bay Primary, Kilmory Primary, COAST and latterly with Eco Savvy. His background is in feasibility, design, design management and due diligence of conventional and latterly renewable generation. His role is to help Eco Savvy identify community renewable opportunities on the island and assist in their development to the environmental and financial benefit of the island residents.
Hilary Maguire – Trustee
Hilary moved to Arran in 2017 after spending family holidays here for over 30 years and became an Eco Savvy trustee and treasurer the following year. A chartered accountant; trained with Price Waterhouse Coopers and when newly qualified, worked in audit in Rome, then in London as financial controller of a hospital for women and children and after that as a manager with Grant Thornton. Has jointly run a practice which has mainly featured the provision of an outsourced financial controller/finance director role for new technology and renewable energy companies for the past twenty years.
Hilary has actively supported environmental charities for most of her life, supporting Greenpeace’s work since its formation in the 1970s and since moving to Arran has supported Glasgow Greenpeace taking part in their campaigns. She also actively supports Scottish CND, ICAN and XR Peace. She is a trustee of Think about Plastic Arran and is Eco Savvy’s representative with this partner organisation. She is involved with Music Arran and the McClellan Arts Festival and is learning Gaelic.
Diana Turbett – Trustee
Diana joined the Ecosavvy Board of Trustees in May 2021 after volunteering with the Eco Savvy Food Share at Shiskine Hall in July 2019. This led on to attending various workshops and learning more about the wide range of environmental projects Eco Savvy undertake to tackle climate change and help make Arran a greener and more sustainable community.
Diana has lived on Arran since 1988, moving here to job share the then one social worker post with her husband Colin and raise their young family. Diana has been involved with Shiskine Hall for many years and more recently the community toilets at Blackwaterfoot. Since retirement in 2019 Diana has joined the Arran Locality Partnership as a community representative and the committee of Arran Youth Foundations.
Diana has recently trained as a volunteer health walk leader and along with others is starting a programme of short walks around the island under the umbrella of the NAC Trinity Active Travel Hub to promote gentle exercise and social contact. This provides an opportunity to link in the Eco Savvy Active Travel project and encourage more of us to get out and about and reduce our dependency on cars.
After many years as a social worker on Arran, Diana is very aware of the challenges island living can present, including access to affordable and warm homes, public transport, social isolation and access to healthy food. Diana feels Eco Savvy has a key role to play in making Arran a greener and more sustainable community for all.
Elsa Rodeck – Trustee
Elsa joined the Eco Savvy team at the end of 2019 to help with minute taking at trustee meetings. After some years commuting between Arran and Glasgow, since the Covid-19 pandemic she and her family have moved back to Arran full time and are delighted to have the opportunity to immerse themselves more fully again in the island’s community and natural environment. Before lockdown her main work was in primary schools running peace education programmes for children. While this work is on hold, as well as supporting Arran Eco Savvy with some admin, Elsa has been helping the Pioneer Project set up the community garden in Cordon. She also continues her work as editor for the Voice for Arran, a publication covering social, political and environmental issues on Arran. She is very happy to find her place on this beautiful island, helping to promote the health and sustainability of it through different environmental projects.
Become a Trustee
Eco Savvy is seeking to appoint new Trustees. We wish to appoint Trustees who will strengthen and support Eco Savvys’ ongoing work through knowledge, networking, and experience, in accordance with its charitable aims.
Find out what being a Trustee involves
Meet the Eco Savvy Team
Ruth McLaren – Project & Communications Development Officer, until August 2023
Thank you Ruth for all your amazing work, we wish you well in your new role.
Ruth was Eco Savvy’s Project & Communications Development Officer meaning she provides support to the various projects, and worked on comms and social media as well as funding. Ruth is passionate about the environment, and how we can all reduce our impact on the planet, and especially issues around social justice and climate change.
She worked for Eco Savvy from 2018 on the Energy and Sustainable Island Life projects and is also a carbon literacy trainer. She has previously worked for the charities Myeloma UK, the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust, the mental health charity Mind and volunteered at a foodbank and is also on COAST’s Community Advisory Panel. Her interests include skiing, hillwalking, reading and hanging about with her rescue dog, Bonnie.
Jess Wallace – Sustainable Food Coordinator
Jess joined the Eco Savvy team for the Sustainable Island Life project and has continued to deliver good food advice. Jess has co-ordinated the food share and developed and delivered food workshops and cookbooks. She has built strong relationships with local produces and the Arran Food Journey.
Donna Gold – Zero Waste Cafe Officer
I am very passionate about not wasting food and have been volunteering with the Eco Savvy Food Share since 2019 and more recently working as part of the Zero Waste Cafe team. I’m a creative cook, often developing recipes as I avoid food waste whenever possible. I use my practiced skills and family recipes at the Zero Waste Cafe when repurposing Food Share and using donated locally grown veg to make seasonal soups and homebaking. Outside of Eco Savvy you’ll find me making jams and preserves or working at Arcas.
Lara-Louisa Winnington-Ingram – Communications Officer
Lara grew up in the Highlands growing and foraging food. She has worked in marketing for several years in Glasgow, Edinburgh, London and Berlin. She also has a BA (Hons) in Marketing Management, having written her dissertation on food waste. As well as starting her new role at Eco Savvy, Lara spends her time working as a freelance marketer, hosting creative events, and trying to deter slugs away from veg in her garden!
Lara Winnington-Ingram
Juliette Walsh – Active Travel Officer
Juliette moved to Arran with her family in 2005 and got stuck into island life, initially working in Whiting Bay Nursery and qualifying as an Early Years Practitioner and Forest School Leader as well as serving as a trustee on various island environmental charity boards.
For the past five years she has worked in Glasgow delivering community re-wilding and food growing health projects. She is passionate about healthy lifestyle choices which embrace the outdoors and is now island based once again and keen to help Eco Savvy and islanders take steps to support both the island’s pristine environment and their own health and wellbeing. Her passions include growing organic fruit and veg, and keeping active with cycling, walking and swimming.
Nikki Harris – Shop Manager
Nikki is a long term resident of Arran who is a passionate environmentalist and enjoys working with the community.
Nikki has spent time working in the public sector as a Youth Worker, in the private sector as a shop keeper and in the voluntary sector working for COAST.
Knowing the Arran Community as well as she does, she hopes this will stand her in good stead as the new EcoSavvy Shop Manager.
Nikki is eager to contribute to the islands green credentials and sustainability. Nikki also runs her own part time Picture Framing business and outside of work Nikki enjoys a variety of crafts and upcycling, learning Spanish and walking.
Stuart Wallace – eBike Coordinator/Mechanic
Most people call me Wally. I have worked as an outdoor leader since I was 18 and have lived on Arran for 15 years. A UK mountain leader, mountain bike level 2 leader and Ctech 2 cycle mechanic. I have been riding the road on a bike as long as I can remember, I resprayed and rebuilt my first full size bike which I was given as a hand me down from my brother. A 1966 Carlton criterium, the frame of which I still ride today. I am a Cytech bike mechanic and British cycling mountain bike leader
Gerard Tattersfield -Active Travel Hub Officer, until August 2023
Thank you Gerard for all your amazing work. Keep in touch.
Gerard brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, contacts and colleagues from across the cycling and active travel world, with the aim of establishing and cementing our Eco Hub in the fabric of island life.
After volunteering with Arran Eco Savvy for many years he now relishes the challenge of working closely with the island community, using our fleet of eBikes as a catalyst for changing the way we actively travel around our beautiful island.
Previous experience in design and marketing, managing the Arran distillery visitor centre and a long association with delivering adventure activities, allows Gerard to draw on a wealth knowledge, whilst learning how to shape Arran’s active travel future.
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