George McDermid has been recognised as the winner of Active Travel Volunteer of the Year at Paths for All’s Volunteer Awards 2022.
The 60-year-old is a volunteer with Greener Kirkcaldy and is committed to sharing his skills, enthusiasm and knowledge, to help members of the community become confident and safe cyclists.
Since retiring four years ago, George has played a key role in setting up Greener Kirkcaldy’s active travel initiatives including launching and regularly leading cycle rides, establishing Kirkcaldy’s first cycling festival and opening a community bike shop, Lang Toun Cycles which helps recycle, repair and loan bikes.
On top of this, George has been actively involved in designing a cycle map, allowing others to choose routes to travel using the bike, wheeling or on foot to get around Kirkcaldy in a cleaner, greener way.
George said:
It’s fantastic being able to lead the cycling groups and share my knowledge. Each week you can really see the group develop and their confidence grow.
“My parents met at the local cyclists touring group and I’ve been Chair in various different cycling groups before joining Greener Kirkcaldy. Cycling is in my DNA – it’s always been a part of my life and I love the freedom it enables so I want to share that with others and make cycling accessible for everyone.
It’s touching to be nominated as I don’t volunteer for the recognition, I do it because I truly want to. Being able to see group members develop and their confidence grow each week while doing something positive for the community is so rewarding.
George has encouraged many to ditch the car and to either walk or cycle whenever possible for shorter journeys and he is a terrific role model practising what he preaches.
Throughout the pandemic George delivered community meals by bike and also allowed the bike shop to continue by sanitising bikes and meeting customers to help restrict the numbers in the shop.
Greener Kirkcaldy is a community-led charity and development trust which works to combat the climate emergency, tackle fuel poverty, food insecurities and to bring people together to achieve a more sustainable Kirkcaldy.
George was among 11 winners at Paths for All's 13th annual Volunteers Awards. You can find out about the rest of the people who have gone the extra mile to keep their communities active in our Volunteer Awards winner gallery.
Greener Kirkcaldy is supported through our Smarter Choices, Smarter Places programme, which awards funding to public, third and volunter groups across Scotland with projects deisnged to encourage local communities to walk, wheel, cycle or use public transport in place for everyday journeys.