COLUMNIST: THE CALEY
“I have been President of The Caley for the past two years, and at our AGM in March, I handed over the reigns to Lewis Normand. In my two years I have found The Caley to be a vibrant organisation which has adapted well to the strange times we are in.
“With the advent of COVID we had to adapt pretty quickly to embrace technology. All our committee meetings moved online and this opened up the Caley Council to having council members join from all over Scotland. This was one of my main priorities in trying to move The Caley from being seen as Edinburgh-centric.
“Following from online committee meetings, The Caley carried on with its programme of Lectures and Talks over Zoom. Doing this meant we expanded our audience, and had viewers from all over Scotland and the wider UK, as well as international viewers. So successful were the online talks that when The Caley went back to the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, for ‘live’ talks, we decided to live stream as well, and record the talks for The Caley’s YouTube channel.
“Saughton Park walled garden continues to develop, and our regular volunteers at Saughton prove to be a valuable face of The Caley.
“The Grow & Learn, and Grow & Learn in Nature (GLIN) programmes continue to thrive. With The Caley’s ongoing successful relationship with the Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT), GLIN is being delivered to six CRT backed projects.
“As I bow out, I hope to have left The Caley in a good state with further initiatives being brought forward by Lewis when he takes over. Remember Gardening brings people together.”
Colin Ainsworth
“It is both a great honour, and huge responsibility, to be proposed as the next President of The Caley. A charity that has been around for over 200 years has a lot of stories to tell and I am very keen on communicating these stories to our membership and prospective new members. I feel we often hide our light under a bushel, but I think we should be shouting about what we do, and who we support, as it is something of which we should be really proud.
“It has been a great pleasure working as a Caley council member and learning about the structure of The Caley and our aims from Colin, former presidents Pam Whittle, David Knott, and George Anderson, and the superb Caley council members, as well of course as our members.
“I come from a professional horticulture and garden design background, where I have been at various times, a garden designer, lecturer, writer, and plant sales professional over my career. This has given me a great insight into the professional market not just in Scotland, but throughout the UK and into Europe.
“I’m also very aware of the domestic market and the army of keen gardeners that Scotland has. We want to engage with these gardeners, just as we do professionals working in horticulture and landscape. I believe The Caley has something to offer everyone, and one of my plans as President is to expand our membership and range of events across Scotland.
“The environment and how we can benefit our local air quality and improve our surroundings is a priority, and I am keen to work with the council to develop talks, plans, and projects to help members deliver on these aims at home.
“Sustainability, recycling, biodiversity, and plant health may sound like buzzwords, and to many I am sure they are off-putting. It is my aim to integrate these ideas into everything we do going forward and to make clear to our membership how we address them, and how they can at home and at work.
“Our educational offering is hugely important and of particular value to what The Caley can bring to Scotland’s gardeners, regardless of their experience or prior knowledge. As a former lecturer, I am keen to see us expand our course offering, and to work with partner organisations to deliver meaningful and beneficial courses to as wide an audience as possible.
"Like all organisations, we are under financial pressures at the moment, but I am confident that the Finance Committee and council can work to ensure that we can deliver our wide-ranging ambitions to a consistently high standard. We will endeavour to do this in a sustainable manner to secure at least another 200 years of the charity benefiting Scotland’s horticultural and gardening culture.
“To relieve some of the financial pressures on The Caley and because it is the right way to do things, I plan to work closely with Scottish horticultural businesses, firstly to give us a more powerful voice lobbying government for positive change, but also to share skills, publicise the great work done on both sides, and to form mutually beneficial agreements.
“Lots to do, but I’m confident I can follow on from Colin’s contribution and lead the council in making progressive growth, ensuring stability, and continued longevity of this great charity.”
Lewis Normand
The Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, known affectionately as The Caley, was established in 1809.
In a regular column for Scotland Grows, members of The Caley talk about the work of the Society in Scotland.
The Caley is always ready to welcome new members and offers a wide range of benefits in joining. From workshops and classes, to talks and trips, there is sure to be something to interest anyone in Scotland with a love of plants and gardening. Find out more about how to join Scotland’s National Horticultural and Gardening Society on their website.