Tom Brock OBE, is Chair of our Board of Charity Trustees.
As part of Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) Trustees' Week - an annual opportunity for charities across Scotland to showcase the great work of trustees and celebrate their boards - Tom has highlighted his journey to becoming part of #TeamKSBScot and expresses his thanks to all our Charity Trustees.
From an early age I have been fascinated by Scotland’s amazing environment and wildlife as well as the need to look after them. I became actively involved in various environmental organisations as a volunteer and studied Zoology at Aberdeen and Glasgow Universities. After working as a Countryside Ranger, I was involved in the management and revitalisation of canals across the UK for over 14 years. A Churchill Fellowship allowed me to study how waterside environments in North America were being revitalised to benefit communities and visitors. I joined the Scottish Seabird Centre and was Chief Executive for 20 years and chaired the national Tourism and Environment Forum.
I had always appreciated and admired the outstanding work of Keep Scotland Beautiful. The range and importance of the charity’s work is very impressive and includes activities such as: Eco-Schools; Climate Emergency Training; Beautiful Scotland Awards; Green Flag for Parks; Beach Awards; Green Key; Clean Up Scotland; National Award for Environmental Excellence as well as many other important campaigns and initiatives.
I joined Keep Scotland Beautiful as a volunteer Trustee because I wanted to help the charity to achieve even more to benefit Scotland’s environment, wildlife and communities. I became Chair of the Board of Charity Trustees last year. The charity is fortunate in having a very strong Board with a wide and extensive range of skills, experiences and interests. We were delighted when six excellent new Charity Trustees joined us last year following a comprehensive recruitment and induction programme. This has significantly increased the Board’s skills and diversity.
Good governance and strategic direction are obviously crucial responsibilities for Charity Trustees. As a Board, we are all committed and passionate about enabling the charity to have maximum positive impact to benefit Scotland’s places and people. We have an amazing team of Trustees, staff and community volunteers who work hard to help achieve the charity’s objectives across the country. I am extremely grateful to them all for everything that they do to support our work.
I strongly believe that there has never been a greater need for the work of Keep Scotland Beautiful. There are clearly many current threats and challenges to our environment and our communities, however I am optimistic about the future. With innovative thinking, good governance and effective partnership working, I am keen that Keep Scotland Beautiful can play an increasingly important role in benefitting our outstanding environment and our wonderful communities throughout Scotland, helping to safeguard them and improve them for future generations.
You can learn more about other volunteer members of our Board of Charity Trustees and our Honorary Fellows. Their passion and commitment is much appreciated and we would very much like to thank them for giving up their time to offer guidance and support to ensure we are always working as effectively as possible.
