Robin will be replacing Brian Young, who along with the CEO Peter Lavelle and the board has successfully grown the organisation into one of the largest Community Wood Recycling members in the country. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic which saw significant increases in demand for their products and services.

An architect and partner of the Glasgow practice cameronwebster architects, Robin is also a past president of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS).

Robin said: “Re-using and recycling timber is hugely important. By keeping more wood in circulation, Glasgow Wood (Recycling) are helping to reduce landfill and also prevent unnecessary CO2 from being released back into the atmosphere. Not only combatting climate change, Glasgow Wood is also creating opportunities for the community. They provide many local unemployed folk with training to help get them back into work and gain skills that will increase their earning capacity.

“With the help of their volunteers, the charity designs and makes an expanding range of reclaimed timber products, including planters, furniture and shelters. They also offer bespoke design services and sell recycled wood to all visitors of their South Street timber yard in the Barclay Curle Complex.

“I would also like to see the specification and use of recycled timber become much more commonplace in the construction industry. It can be used as flooring, cladding, sarking, and in all sorts of shelving and fittings. Reclaimed timber should be automatically considered by specifiers as a prime sustainable material before turning to virgin timber.”

Following the Community Wood Recycling model, Glasgow Wood make waste wood collections in the Greater Glasgow area using part of this timber to build their products. In 2022, the organisation was able to reuse, recycle and redistribute an estimated 3,171.5m3 from these collections, the equivalent of around 1.3 Olympic-sized swimming pools (Tollcross Aquatic Centre has one this size). And recruiting 36 local volunteers over the 12-month period, they supported the Glasgow Wood team with an additional 5,345 hours.

CEO & founder Peter Lavelle said: “On behalf of myself and the Glasgow Wood team we’re absolutely delighted to welcome Robin to the team. He’s very passionate about everything we stand for as an organisation and I’m very excited to see what he’ll contribute to our future. We already have a few great partnerships with Glasgow architectural practices, but with Robin’s help we’re hoping widen our reach and use these relationships to help future-proof our organisation. It all feeds in to our desire to create opportunities for local people and keep more wood in circulation.”