GreenTweed Eco began in 2018 to bring communities, and young people in particular, together with the wild spaces around them. By organising and executing regional-scale events, GreenTweed Eco aims to engage a whole generation of schoolchildren to be the future guardians of our natural environment.Examples of projects organised by GreenTweed Eco include the following:Great Borders River Clean: Over 2,000 volunteers have cleared more than 12,000kg of rubbish from the River Tweed and its tributaries. The latest event (453 volunteers in 30 riverside communities) was one of the largest (if not the largest) simultaneous river cleans ever held in Great Britain.Single Spey River Clean: Since October 2020, more than 1,000 volunteers have cleared over 350 bags/4,030kg of rubbish from 12 communities, from source to sea, along the length of the River Spey. Highland Primary Schools Birdbox Project: This large-scale regional project has supplied c1,800 birdboxes to 175 primary schools across the Highland Council region. The Project will have a significant positive impact both on local populations of small birds and upon the huge number of schoolchildren involved over the lifespan of the boxes. Using timber grown and milled in the Highlands and making extensive use of recycled and repurposed materials, the Highland Primary Schools Birdbox Project aims to inspire young people to become passionate defenders of the environment.East Lothian Primary Schools Birdbox Project: By the end of 2022, each of the c40 East Lothian primary schools had received x10 birdboxes each to promote the engagement of young people with the Natural World around them.Borders Primary Schools Birdbox Project: This is a simple project that supplied each of the x60 Scottish Borders Council primaries with x10 birdboxes each over a three year period. The boxes were built by me at my home workshop in the Scottish Borders and mapped using GIS data mapping with successes shared via social media platforms.

I am a full-time teacher of Latin, History, Geography and Environmental Studies at a small independent school at the heart of the Scottish Borders.As well as my classroom role, I also run the GreenTweed Eco initiative working with our local community and the wild spaces around us. My aim is to bring other schools together with charities and volunteer organisations to make a measurable positive impact to Borders wildlife. Recent successes have included the biannual Great Borders River Clean (last edition: 453 volunteers cleared 2,050kg of rubbish from 30 communities on the Tweed system) and the ongoing Borders Primary Schools Birdbox Project (200 boxes delivered to 20 primary schools this year with a further 150 built to raise £1,500 for NHS Borders). In addition, St. Mary's School, Melrose was the first primary school in Scotland to receive Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Schools status and my pupils made Melrose Scotland's first Plastic Free town. Next month will see the inaugural Single Spey River Clean involving communities from Laggan to Spey Bay.Since joining the school, GreenTweed Eco and St. Mary's School have won a number of awards including the Scottish Land and Estates Conservation Award (2020), the Scotland's Finest Woods School Award (2017), TOTAL Better Energy Schools Award (2019 and 2020), the Woodland Trust's Green Tree Schools Gold Award, RSPB's Wild Challenge Gold Award and is currently nominated for the RSPB Nature of Scotland Youth & Education award.

I taught Mathematics, Science and Latin to children aged 8-13 years. In addition to my academic and pastoral duties I held responsibilities for coaching sports including rugby (UKCC Level 2 qualified coach), hockey and cricket.I introduced a series of outdoor activities to increase awareness of the countryside around us and our school's place within it.During the last two years of my time at Belhaven, I organised and led educational projects to plant over 3,500 trees, cleared seven local beaches of marine litter, put up over 100 bird boxes and built an outdoor classroom within the school grounds from 100% recycled materials.I also co-ordinating a programme to grow several hundred native trees, from seed, to plant in the local area.During my tenure, my school was awarded the Woodland Trust's Green Tree Schools Gold Award and the Scotland's Finest Woods Highly Commended Award for wildlife conservation and outdoor education. Most amazingly, we won the Youth and Education Award in the RSPB's Nature of Scotland Awards 2015!!

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