Gaelic welcome to Volunteers

5 June 2019

The Scottish Invasive Species Initiative celebrates Volunteers’ Week this week by extending a special welcome to Gaelic speakers interested in joining the project’s team of volunteers.

The project, already running a suite of volunteer and community-based activities across the north of Scotland, is pleased to now make its information for volunteering available in Gaelic. It is hoped that Gaelic speakers of all abilities will feel encouraged to get involved with the project.

Scottish Invasive Species Initiative Manager, Callum Sinclair, said: “As a project we try to give all our volunteers fantastic opportunities and the support they need to make a difference to the nature of Scotland. We also want to give the choice and option of having information available in Gaelic to help raise awareness of the language, encourage its use and generate greater volunteer and community activity with us”.

“The language is intertwined with the nature of Scotland and so it seems only right that we strive to promote opportunities for speakers to use their Gaelic skills.”.

Robyn Ireland, Gaelic Officer with NatureScot said: “The intrinsic link between people and nature is reflected in our cultural heritage and we are committed to ensuring that Gaelic flourishes. We are delighted to introduce the use of the language into this ambitious project where it has not been used previously.”

David Boag, Director of Language Planning and Community Developments said, “It is great to see this opportunity for Gaelic speaking volunteers to get involved, supporting the aim of the National Gaelic Language Plan that Gaelic is used more often, by more people and in a wider range of situations.  It is fitting that this initiative is launched during Volunteers’ Week, and highlights the central and crucial part that volunteers play in growing Gaelic in communities across Scotland.”

In addition to the volunteer documents, the Initiative will build on its Gaelic offer by producing news items and social media pieces bilingually and is planning to develop educational materials and workshops for Gaelic-medium schools.

The Scottish Invasive Species Initiative focuses on working with communities and volunteers to remove and control invasive non-native plant species and American mink from the countryside. Invasive non-native species can impact directly on native wildlife and habitats.

Over Volunteers Week there are several Conservation Volunteer events to remove invasive species that people can get involved in, which can be found on the project website. Conservation volunteering is a great way to get outdoors, meet new people, get fit and have fun while doing your bit for your local environment. New volunteers are welcome to join in with events, such as Himalayan balsam pulling, or can contact the project at any time about helping out.

To find out more about the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative, volunteering with the project and events on during Volunteers Week, visit www.invasivespecies.scot , follow on social media or contact the team on [email protected]

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