Legacy supports another six adventurers

The 2021 Des Rubens Bill Wallace Grant recipients plan to: travel by pack-raft, count rock doves and survey cetaceans in the Hebrides; monitor peatland and draw rare plants in north Scotland and take young people on a winter climbing course in the Cairngorms.

The 2021 Des Rubens and Bill Wallace Grants will help six people seek out life-changing experiences in wild places, in ways that will benefit them and the wild places they visit.

This year’s educational and scientific adventures take place closer to home with our latest grant recipients planning to head to Scotland and its islands in search of adventure and knowledge.

• Experienced outdoor instructor Rebecca Amos, will travel from her home in Shropshire to Stornoway by train and boat. She plans to journey by pack-raft from the most northerly point on Lewis to the most southerly point of Barra.
• PhD student Will Smith will travel from Oxford to the Outer Hebrides where he will gather data about Scottish rock doves – a species that is under threat.
• Youth and community worker Rehna Yaseen (pictured above) will take 15 young people from Ashton under Lyne, East Manchester, on a winter mountaineering course in the Cairngorms.
• Peatland ecologist Sarah Crowe will cycle to hard to access habitats in north Scotland to survey and draw peatland sites for the National Plant Monitoring Scheme.
• Ecologist Leah Farquharson will trek, kayak, cycle and climb to wild and remote locations to document Scotland’s rare native plants as well as more common species.
• Marine scientist Katie Dyke will undertake cetacean surveys from the Shiant islands in the Outer Hebrides.

Rosie Simpson of the John Muir Trust, who administers the Des Rubens and Bill Wallace Grant, said: “We are in a privileged position to be able to support individuals to undertake adventures in 2021 and hope these awards offer everyone some hope of a brighter year ahead. We look forward to hearing about what the six successful candidates learn from their expeditions and how their activities have contributed towards making the world a wilder place.

“Des and Bill lived active, adventurous, outdoor lives and would be delighted to know that their inspirational lives are now helping people of different backgrounds and life circumstances have personal adventure grounded in a purpose for nature.”

• For more information about the Des Rubens and Bill Wallace Grant email: Rosie Simpson