‘Forest school’ facility to be named after nature-loving young man

A NEW all-weather facility at community wood in Selkirk is to be named after a nature-loving young man who took his own life last year.

Go Wild Scotland, a not-forprofit social enterprise bringing people together in the outdoors, aims to build a new educational building at Mauldsheugh Wood.

Mauldsheugh Wood was established to make it easier for anyone to view wildlife, even on the edge of a town.

With the support of funders – in particular Scottish Borders Council – Go Wild Scotland has worked with more than a dozen schools in and around Selkirk, Galashiels, Melrose and Hawick to bring youngsters closer to nature.

Building a basic forest school was one of the first things Go Wild Scotland did when it started developing the wood as a community project.

Now a planning application has been submitted to Scottish Borders Council to enhance the offer at the wood with the establishment of a new allweather facility – to be named after Greig Lothian, a 20-year-old from Selkirk who died in July last year.

A report with the planning bid says: “Now we hope to embark on a new and exciting chapter of the project’s development with the construction of a dedicated indoor space to provide allweather facilities to support our work with all age-groups.

“It has been made possible by the extraordinary generosity of hundreds of people who contributed to a crowd-funder organised by the irrepressible Grace Lothian.

“She wanted to do something in memory of her son Greig, who loved nature and working outdoors.

“Greig took his own life at the age of 20 and Grace is particularly keen that resources are available to help improve the mental health of young people in the community.

“The building will carry Greig’s name.”

To support the ongoing fundraising effort you can go to www.gofundme.com/f/ingreigs-memory