TreeLink Stirling is a community-based organisation working across the Stirling Council area.
TreeLink was founded during the winter lockdown of 2020/21 by a group of people brought together (on-line) by their appreciation of the ecological, social and cultural importance of trees. They registered TreeLink as a charity and despite the constraints of the pandemic got down to work. They set themselves the tasks of growing new trees, supporting community tree planting, looking after existing woodlands and encouraging street tree tree planting. They also wanted to be a voice for trees and woodlands in Stirling Council area.
A successful application was made to the Stirling Council Community Fund for a start-up grant. Articles appeared in the local press and by the summer of 2021 planning groups had been formed and volunteers were being recruited to new projects. In April 2022 the Strategic Plan 2022-2025 was launched at the first AGM held at Stirling University.
TreeLink relies entirely on the commitment of its trustees and other volunteers. They grow and plant trees, maintain woodland and do all the the 'behind the scenes' work needed to keep TreeLink growing.
You can find out about the current trustees here ...
Trustees
Paul Dumbleton
Paul has lived in Stirling for almost forty years and is now retired after working in education and then in the voluntary sector. After leaving full-time work he was appointed to the boards of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland and the Scottish Social Services Council. He currently sits as a social security tribunal member.
He has a long association with the voluntary sector as a volunteer, a manager, a trustee and grant assessor. This was recognised by the award of an honorary degree by Stirling University in 2014.
Lynda McColl, Treasurer
I live in Aberfoyle, went to school here then to McLaren high, which has a very large and diverse catchment area.
After leaving school I joined the Forestry Commission and have worked throughout Scotland with the Commission over 24 Years.
In my late twenties I moved to Callander and was a resident there for 20 odd years working at Stirling University then with Action for Children.
My background is administration and accounting, and I love gardening, even the weeds have a place in our world.
On returning to Aberfoyle I joined the Community Council to attempt to make the surrounding environment appealing to my children and to try and inspire the compassion for nature that I feel.
I support and assist where possible community projects that enhance nature and promote nature and diversity.
I would love to see more diversity within our communities as I feel it would promote and encourage wildlife, even a small start of flowering trees within the built up areas of towns and cities.
Ann White, Secretary
I really enjoy the practical side of conservation work. Following retirement from my career as a university lecturer, I joined BTCV as a volunteer officer, helping to organise groups of volunteers undertaking a wide variety of projects in the outdoors.
I have volunteered with Scottish Natural Heritage (now NatureScot) for many years, working on their reserves at Flander’s Moss, Loch Lomond and Blawhorn Moss and I am a volunteer ranger with Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. I also help to manage the wildlife garden in my village where we have planted many trees.
I hope that TreeLink Stirling will be able to support and encourage many more people to engage with the natural world, both for their own benefit and that of the environment.
Max Hislop
Max Hislop is a Chartered Forester and Social Researcher by training and has worked on social and community dimensions of green infrastructure for nearly 30 years.
Max is the Director of the Clyde Climate Forest which was launched in June 2021. He heads up a small team which aims to facilitate the planting of 18 million trees in Glasgow City Region over a decade.
He lives in Stirling with his wife and two children.
Prof Alistair Jump FRSB
I'm a professional ecologist working on impacts of environmental change on trees and woodlands and the benefits that they bring to people and places.
I've lived in Stirling for the past twelve years and have worked in education, research and consultancy throughout this time across Scotland and the wider world. I've spent much of my professional life seeking to understand the vulnerability of trees to climate change and how we reduce risk to trees and maximise benefit from them.
Trees are of fundamental importance to our quality of life and can help us solve many of the environmental problems that we face over the coming decades if we incoorate them into the heart of our planing and decision making.
Nigel Cole
Nigel has recently retired from a long career with a major telecommunications company and is now filling his time with various volunteering roles.
Nigel is happiest when up to his knees in mud completing practical conservation work. He’s been volunteering for conservation groups for 35+ years on and off. This has included working with many organisations and doing many types of work.
He has also completed several training courses with SCP/BTCV/TCV and National Trust for Scotland, including hand tool tree felling, tool mtce, hedge laying, drystone dyking and bridge building. Practical-wise there aren't many conservation tasks that he hasn't done. From mountain paths to ponds, from fencing to running a tree nursery. He has even built bird islands!
He believes that working together we can make a real difference to the landscape, biodiversity and outdoor enjoyment in the Stirling area.
Pat Morrissey
I have worked most of my adult life in education at one level or another. Latterly I supported people with literacy issues who had engaged with the criminal justice service.
I had a love of the outdoors instilled in me at a very early age and it saddens me to see so many young people seemingly divorced from wild places. This "othering" of the natural world is of great concern and I hope that TreeLink can help people re-engage spiritually, emotionally and practically with nature through planting, championing and learning about trees.