Artlink Glasshouses Creative Hub

How do you like to spend your time outside of volunteering?

I’m a grandfather now. My granddaughter lives in Aberdeen unfortunately, she’s just 18 months, so we are spending quite a bit of time travelling.

I’m a golfer so I spend a fair bit of time at that and apart from that I’m retired. I also have my own garden to work on. Every day is different, I’m absolutely not bored! There is always plenty to do.

Have you got any other hobbies?

I’ve just built myself a little greenhouse this year. One thing I’m interested in is loofahs, which I’ve just realised you can grow in a greenhouse on a vine, and then you dry them out and you can give them as presents!

What kind of activities energise you?

Sharing my interests and working with patients or other volunteers.

Are you a dog or a cat person?

(laughs) Silly question! DOGS, definitely a big dog person. I’ve only had two dogs and I’ve had them both from pups. So a lot of things I learnt with Skye, in terms of training him, I’ve been able to continue with Selkie. Therapet training is not so much about training them to do certain things; it’s more about their temperament, their friendliness, and things that they don’t do, like jumping up on people, licking faces, barking etc, those kinds of things.

Some dogs are naturals, and I think Selkie is one of them. (Callum’s previous dog Skye was a therapet, and he hopes Selkie will become one too). It’s also a good excuse to get out of the house to exercise and walk and all the rest of it. And meeting other people, other dog owners, they are a little community amongst themselves.

Have you recently learned any new skill or activity?

Willow weaving! That’s something new to me (laughs). There is loads of willow here. I’m very much at the bottom of that learning curve, but I’ve managed to build a few things that have stood the test of time.

If you are having a bad day, what might you do to turn things around?

Getting outdoors, fresh air, nature, bit of exercise, that usually does the trick for me.

Can you describe a typical day here at the Glasshouses?

Here on a Wednesday afternoon, myself and Allan report to Anne to see if she has anything specific that’s she’s noticed or something that she wants attended to.

I always bring along my strimmer. I have a very good, very powerful strimmer that can cut through most things. I did the paths through the Orchard at the side of the Greenhouses. So that’s a good example; the apples were starting to fall, and it was just a mass of nettles, so you couldn’t pick up the windfalls. I strimmed paths through that, so you could see where the apples had fallen and you could pick them up without getting stung!

A garden this size, it’s like the Forth Rail Bridge; once you’ve finished one patch it’s time to move onto another. It’s an endless cycle but it’s good. We always get a nice cup of tea or coffee made for us, sometimes if we’re lucky we get a biscuit and a cake (laughs) and obviously get a chin wag with whoever is about, the patients or other volunteers as well. It’s a social occasion as well as an active project.

What attracts you to volunteering?

I was forced into early retirement because I had my own mental health issues with work, the constant targets and the pressure led to a lot of stress.

I guess I’ve some skills I can share with other people. I do like being productive, I like doing certain things that reward me and reward others. I get a lot of personal satisfaction out of doing that.

Can you talk about what you did before you retired and what skills you transfer over from that?

I worked for two big American multinationals, medical surgery companies, both in sales and in the marketing departments. I guess I had to be very organised, as well as create and deliver the plan for the marketing side. [Whilst] the corporate life was not for me, the soft skills I learnt stand me in good stead for working with patients.

What do you get out of volunteering?

I guess the reward of giving something back, I’d like to think it’s helpful. During lockdown as well, when there wasn’t much happening, the Volunteer Hub was a godsend to me. Patients were stuck on wards and couldn’t get their usual things from the shops, so we did that for them; I guess in a way that was also a godsend for them as well. With gardening you are learning all the time and there are some very knowledgeable people working here at the Glasshouses and at the Community Gardens, so it takes you into different sides of things.