COMMENT

Volunteers –
The Lifeblood of a Voluntary Organisation

When the MCofS was set up in 1970 it was run exclusively by pioneering volunteers who had foresight and laudable aims. Now the council is the ‘National Governing Body’ of our sport and is still a ‘Voluntary Organisation’; in these roles it must show integrity and diplomacy - campbellesque rants are not for us, we make our points via reasoned debate and persuasion (OK, some of us sometimes get a bit heated on certain topics!).

At the heart of the MCofS is the Executive Committee and volunteers are nominated and elected onto this at the AGM. Several sub-committees are responsible for contributing to the Corporate Plan and getting the tasks in the different areas of the work programme addressed. The Exec members opt to join one of these, depending on their interests and skills or where they are needed. In addition, we co-opt willing individuals whose particular knowledge and skills can be tapped.

The unpaid work of our 55 current volunteers is crucial in achieving our aims in meeting members’ interests and supporting the Officers and enables considerably more tasks to be overtaken than even our handful of highly competent employees could handle. Their input is also vital in keeping costs down - ie to be blunt, subsidising subscription rates, not to mention hillgoers who are not Members but who benefit from our work. Most have full-time jobs, so any mid-week tasks inevitably fall to those who work part-time, or who can work flexibly or who have retired. I certainly found I could do more work for the MCofS after escaping early from the bureaucratic quagmire of employment in the public sector.

What do volunteers actually do? All sorts of things. For example, the Council works closely with many partner organisations and has to be represented at their meetings or site visits; in many cases it is the volunteers who do this as this saves the Officer’s worktime. We help to represent members’ interests on a variety of organisation ranging from the National Trust for Scotland and ‘BUFT’ to the Red Deer Management Round Table and the RSPB. We liase with bodies from SNH to Environment LINK; the Access Forum and the training and mountain rescue bodies. The website is maintained by a volunteer; another sorts out our IT systems/ hardware/ software/ whatever - enormous tasks and these individuals are hugely appreciated. Many of us support training initiatives and help to form policies and educational leaflets. The Office Bearers sometimes contribute to the media and we lobby MPs and MSPs. The Honorary Secretary and other Secs have a masterful control of Minutes and Agendae; they need to as each sub-committee and the Exec meet for lengthy evening sessions several times a year - all essential to the smooth(ish) running of your Council. A few assist in the office and one files for the Access & Conservation Committee and maintains our archives single-handed. We undertake staff appraisals and reviews and write reports. All contribute to a greater or lesser extent to consultation papers especially in the last couple of years in the build-up to the passage of the Land Reform Act and the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

I am constantly amazed by what is achieved on a shoestring and what huge life-consuming projects people cheerfully accept responsibility for. The detailed research and negotiation involved in producing ‘Heading for the Scottish Hills’ is mostly output from just one volunteer.

But what about you? Can you offer the Council any expertise? A&C could certainly use a Press Officer, to scrutinise local papers and collate articles; we also need to add to our 16 Area Contacts to be alert to new planning proposals, bulldozed tracks etc. Although we have someone working on windfarms, with around 400 (and counting) known possible sites there’s a lot to do. Are you competent to take on Youth Development work? Great! Contact the National Officer. So if you have enthusiasm, energy and skills to offer, please give us a ring.

Beryl Leatherland
(Vice President and Access & Conservation Committee Chair)