WENDY MAKES POWER LIST
Accolade for top volunteer
A Cou par Angus volunteer has been nominated for the Woman’s Hour Power List 2020.
Wendy McCom be s has been recognised for her efforts in the east Perthshire town to raise awareness of healthy eating and local produce, working with young people and setting up three community gardens.
The‘ Woman’ s Hour Power List 2020: Our Planet’ aims to highlight the work of 30 women based in the UK who are making a significant positive contribution to the environment or the sustainability of the planet.
It showcases inspirational initiatives and stories that are bringing about change at all levels of society – from influencing global policy and changing human behaviour, to inventing ecofriendly products, spearheading scientific research, volunteering in community gardens, and inspiring a deep love of the natural world.
Wendy was nominated for the Woman’s Hour Power List 2020 by a volunteer in the community gardens in Coupar Angus.
The nomination stated: “For over 40 years, Wendy has worked as a dentist and has always been concerned about nutrition in early years.
“Far from settling into lei surely retirement, she has thrown herself more fully in recent years into projects of which she was already a part.
“She set up and ran the month-long Soupathon in Coupar Angus for three years, producing soup kits, which she made largely from local ingredients in her own kitchen.
“The kits came with a recipe attached and were made available to various groups at events, Christmas fairs and even quiz nights, and were sold at a nominal price in shops.
“The idea was so successful that they were bought even by people who had never cooked before.
“Her recipes feature low energy cooking methods as many local people are in fuel poverty.”
The nomination continued: “Foraging is also one of Wendy’s passions.
“She leads groups out into the countryside, looking for edible plants, roots and fungi, having first prepared some dishes to show the end result.
“She has given cooking classes to children during the school holidays, teaching basic skills including planting.
“In all, she has produced 42 soup recipes, some of which are featured in a cookery book brought out by Coupar Angus Primary School.
“She also introduced aspects of climate literacy to the local youth group, of which she is chair.
“Wendy set up three community gardens, one of which is now a community market garden.
“These have been so successful that a full-time, paid worker with a permaculture qualification has been employed to run them.
“She also set up and ran the Coupar Angus market for four years, a producers’ market selling crafts and other goods as well as locally-produced organic food.
“These took place every month from March to October and contributed to reducing carbon emissions by reducing the number of miles travelled by car to purchase produce.
“Also as part of her work to reduce the carbon footprint of the town and save energy, Wendy, along with others, raised funds to purchase and upgrade the local charity shop which is now a Re-Use Shop, selling books and a variety of goods at low cost.
“Again working with others, she raised money to renovate a local, disused cafe which is now a shop selling the market garden produce as well as other products.
“The building is now well insulated, resulting in low heating costs.”
Wendy’s campaigning has led to her receiving four Climate Challenge Fund grants from the Scottish Government for, among other things, developing local food projects and having growing mentors and teachers who educate, advise and support people and groups in climate literacy.
She is also a Scottish Community Champion of the EU GROW Observatory
project.
As explained in the nomination: “This ‘citizen science’ initiative involved measuring soil for light, temperature and wetness or dryness - knowledge vital for the future of successful crop growing.
“Wendy recruited 120 volunteers and together they put 1000 sensors into the ground.
“Volunteers also play an important role in the community gardens and include individuals of all ages such as Police Scotland’s Youth Volunteers, people with learning and physical disabilities or illnesses like depression,
people on benefits, those serving Community Service sentences, and members of the local community.
“And Wendy has worked with organisations such as Perth and Kinross Council, creating a course at Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework level 3 in climate literacy.
“This is flexible enough for use by anyone, whatever their level of formal education, from primary school to further education colleges and staff in various trades, and she is keen that climate literacy is made a core educational skill.”