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Gary is Scotland’s top volunteer

A young East Kilbride man has been named Scotland's top volunteer. Gary McClelland, 18, was given the accolade at the Young Scot Awards last week after spending five weeks helping impoverished children in Kenya last summer.

The East Mains man said he was inspired to make the trip after a meeting with his religious education teacher in St Bride’s High School, Mrs Glen, two years earlier.

It led to a discussion with his local priest, Father Frank King, then based at Our Lady of Lourdes in Westwood.

He put Gary in touch with the Lasallian monks who arranged for his trip to Africa.

It resulted in him giving up his holidays last summer as he headed off to the village of Olaimuitiai, in Narok, Kenya, where he helped build a school which will house 50 pupils.

The Stirling Drive man said: “It was a fantastic experience but one that was a real eye-opener.

“You meet people who quite literally find themselves in the situation where they don’t know if they’re going to get food the next day. It certainly makes you think as it’s not something that happens to the likes of us here.”

During his five-week stay, Gary forged many friendships, particularly with one youth who used to watch Gary and the others in his team build the school.

One day Gary wandered over to the youth and gave him a banana which he wolfed down in seconds. Gary got a translator to ask him why he was not in school and was told it was because his mum could not afford the fees or the soap to wash him so the teacher sent him home.

That's when Gary decided he would sponsor the boy called Olasiti to the tune of £10 a month as this amount feeds and clothes both him and his mother as well as paying the school fees.

These efforts led to Gary being nominated for the Young Scot Volunteer Award, by his friend Pauline Eliss.

The judges decided to make him the winner citing his “dedication to volunteering” as the chief reason.

Gary currently also volunteers at Universal Connections in the town — a task he has been doing since he was 15. He is also involved in the project Active Breaks in Claremont High School, which promotes better behaviour and better learning among pupils.

His efforts were praised by George Thomson, chief executive of the group Volunteer Development Scotland. He said: “Gary’s dedication and enthusiasm to volunteering is very impressive and he’s made a huge difference to many lives, both at home and abroad.

“He’s a natural at interacting with young people and talks to them on their level about their issues. Quite simply, Gary McClelland is a great example of what a difference young Scots can make by volunteering.”

Full story at the East Kilbride News.