Beth Parker loves the outdoors and adventure, and her work in the Community Development Team in Glasgow Kelvin College is a perfect fit for the 28 year old Glaswegian.
Beth works with young people who have disengaged from mainstream schooling, giving them opportunities to try some of her favourite things, like paddle boarding, skiing, abseiling, archery, map reading and walking.
It’s something that Beth wishes she had the chance to do when she was a teenager. She grew up in Glasgow’s east end and had a rough time at school, deciding to leave when she was 16 years old to take up hairdressing.
Beth started dabbling in community learning and development (CLD) in her late teens, volunteering as a ‘mascot’ character for a hospital and representing the voice of young people on a local youth organisation’s committee. She also began helping her mum with a food sustainability project and is still involved in today.
These early experiences led to Beth quitting hairdressing to take up paid work in CLD. So far, her career has seen her running Bikeability training in schools and community centres, coordinating homework clubs, helping young people complete the Duke of Edinburgh Award and working at youth clubs and community drop-in centres.
While Beth never considered herself to be academic, she found her way to university a few years ago, and hasn’t looked back, having recently completing a Masters Degree in Community Education at Glasgow Uni.
“It still blows my head that I’ve done that! Never in a million years would I have thought I’d go to university! But I literally just sailed through uni, and eventually came away with a Masters.”
Beth’s Masters research was focused on outdoor education with women, looking at the benefits of cold water therapy, walking, climbing mountains, meditating and other therapeutic activities. This research aligned perfectly with another one of Beth’s pet projects – a holistic outdoor learning group she set up on Facebook which involves around 70 women who regularly meet to experience the outdoors together.
“I set the group up because I was sick of going for hill walks on my own! So I got a group of women together who were interested in the same things as me, and the rest is history.” she said.
With Beth’s love of the outdoors and passion for community learning, one ambition is to set up a charitable organisation around outdoor learning. But that’s not all! She has her sights set on getting involved in CLD policy making too.
“I’d like to get involved in policy writing to really make the most of my Masters, ideally working in the Scottish Government, but I also want to keep my toes on the ground with the community.”
When it comes to the best things about working in CLD, she says, “Every day is different, no two days are the same. For me, it’s seeing people that I’ve worked with grow and make improvements in their life. Having a small part in that makes it so worth it.”
Beth has been an Associate Member of the CLD Standards Council since she was at university, and now that her studies are complete she’ll become a full member.
“What I love about the Council is it gives us a professional body who can speak on behalf of community workers, which is so very important. They’re a great body to go to for advice and to keep the standard and quality of our sector in check.”
To find out more about membership of the CLD Standards Council click here