I am the newly appointed Assistant Site Manager for Central Scotland. Growing up in Cumbria fostered a love for wildlife and the countryside from an early age and whilst I was studying for my masters in People and The Environment at the University of Aberdeen, I fell in love with the Scottish culture, history and landscape. From then on I have worked towards protecting the environment and building my life in this beautiful country. In 2016 I became a residential volunteer with the National Trust for Scotland and was based in Aberdeenshire for a year learning the practical skills required for conservation work. This experience allowed me to move to Perthshire and become the seasonal ranger covering five sites in Tayside for the NTS. During my time there, I worked on creating new projects to improve the visitor experience and safety of the sites.

I am really excited to dive into this Assistant Site Manager role with the Woodland Trust particularly developing the volunteering opportunities across the central Scotland sites. I will begin by building up the Woodland Working Group in Livingston with a monthly schedule of interesting conservation and maintenance tasks. I will also be working on identifying the need for more volunteers across the other sites as well as establishing relationships with local schools and community groups to encourage involvement with the Woodland Trust.

Hannah Patterson