News

A message from our Managing Director - 30/06/2026

Hello friends and followers, I'm Lynsey, MD, and Co-founder of Transition

Dundee 👋 For those who don't yet know, in early July I will be leaving

my role at TD, after 9 amazing years. Before I say any more, I'd like to

share a wee story: to document my version of how TD got to where it is

today. And a hope, that it might in some small way help or inspire

anyone else to take action, look after themselves, or make a change...

After being a Geography graduate, specialising in Quaternary Science (read climate change!), Geomatics and Social Justice Movements, I went on to become a Hydrographic Surveyor, working offshore on a ship and travelling the world. While it was an exciting job, my conscience did not rest easy flying all over the globe and working for some of the world's worst companies. I started volunteering at Dundee Foodbank when I was home - I loved being able to help and the sense of community I felt there and continued for over 8 years. After nearly 7 years of working away from home, I decided it was time for a change. Colleagues at the foodbank told me about a climate project being run out of a church who were hiring a Project Coordinator. I jumped at it, luckily got the job, and never looked back. 

We were a small team, initially tasked with improving the energy efficiency of the church buildings, distributing 'Give Boxes' around the city to increase reuse of household items, and providing home energy advice and home energy visits to people on low incomes. We ran big clothes swaps and passed on a lot of goods to local charities helping our communities.

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Later, we set up a local climate action network and started one of Scotland's first Community Fridges. The Community Fridge was (and still is!) such an amazing addition to the community I lived and worked in. With a new and fast-growing team of volunteers we managed to redistribute so much more food than we ever dreamed of.

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Through the worst of the pandemic, we managed to keep it open where it became an invaluable little community hub for many. When Covid rules allowed, we set up a weekly Community Wardrobe to encourage people to reuse clothes and household goods, to repair things and to share clothes, skills and more. Having no experience in this field, but a strong desire to help change things, I absolutely loved the challenges, the new sense of community and all the people we got to meet and work with.

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In 2021, we found out our Scot Gov funding was ending. We knew we couldn't stop our projects, so we did a lot of research and learning, and decided to set up as a new social enterprise (known as a CIC) called Transition Dundee, moving to the Nethergate.

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Setting up a social enterprise, starting our busy wee reuse shop, The Wardrobe, keeping the Community Fridge going and securing enough funding all at the same time was been no mean feat. But we did it, and continue to run events, workshops, campaigns and more💪🥳

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In 2023 we set up the wonderful Gleaning Project, I've been to many a gleaning day, and loved meeting the volunteers and seeing how the food benefits projects across Dundee. It's scary how much food is out there wasting away, but this project has so much potential.

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We also started a partnership with four brilliant charities/CIC's to create the Scottish Government funded Climate Hub - Dundee Changemakers. Dundee is a city full of amazing Changemakers; the Hub is there to support all of the work they do, and to amplify the links between climate and social justice. Shout out to the phenomenal people of Creative Dundee, The Maxwell Centre, ScrapAntics and Uppertunity - I learned so much from these wonderful community leaders and organisations.

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​The last few years have not been without their challenges, and I'm the first to admit I have struggled with the pressure sometimes, as many of my colleagues across the sector do. While not the direct cause, I have no doubt it impacted me last spring, when I developed a sudden, rare health condition - Guillain-Barré syndrome. Although luckily not as severe as others, I suffered nerve damage all over my body, and for several months my poor coordination and muscle function made it quite challenging to walk or use my arms. I was treated in hospital and forced to take a few months off work to let my body repair - it will apparently take up to two years to get back to normal, but thankfully I am expected to make a full recovery. Being a busy, active person, it was quite a shock to the system and it's forced me to slow down a little. I've become quite the expert on the nervous system, something I knew nothing about before!

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My time off was a really insightful, beneficial time though, and taught me a lot about health, what matters to me and what brings me, my friends and family, joy.​ This experience has left me with a strong desire to do something else, hopefully spending more time outdoors and less time with technology (we'll see if that works!). I hope whatever I end up doing I'll continue to serve the brilliant people of Dundee, just in a way that's healthier for me.

I wish we could do more to support the third sector, in a time when activism, defending human rights and community participation is needed more than ever. I've seen burnout and poor  health too often among leaders, workers and volunteers. But if these people are expected to continue filling gaps where government is failing, we need to do more to support them. I'll be exploring this going forward!

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The last year was also a steep learning curve for our staff team and Board of Directors, as we learned about the gaps in decision making, governance, digital systems, financial planning and more, when I had to drop out suddenly. Small organisations are most often too dependent on one person, for many reasons, and succession planning is usually down the list of priorities when there are many more urgent things to be done.

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As a result, we applied for and were awarded funding late last year from the National Lottery 'Strengthening Organisations' Fund, to bring in a Programme Manager to work on all of the above. The funding landscape is getting more difficult than ever for all of us, and so we won't be hiring for my position for the time being. Our new colleague Felicity, with help from the rest of the team, will be taking on my duties for now. I'm leaving the projects in brilliant hands and will be cheering them on from the sidelines!​​

To celebrate my time at TD, and to give myself a bit of a challenge

post-illness, I'm going to do the Dundee Kiltwalk once again, with a

few colleagues/friends, to try and raise much-needed funds for

TD. If you would be up for supporting us, (or joining us, the more the

merrier!) please head over to our JustGiving page here: 

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/transitiondundee-1

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While it brings mixed emotions and so many brilliant memories, I’m

excited to see what's next for our Transition Dundee. We started with

a team of just 3 in 2022, which has grown to 12 today. It's never a dull

day in our busy wee office, with all those wonderful people. It's been a wild, sometimes scary, but amazing ride - and one I am so very privileged to have been part of. I've experienced, learned, and grown so much thanks to what we've all achieved, and I will be forever grateful.

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To everyone who has been involved up until now, everyone that has lent a hand, collaborated with us or supported from the sidelines... from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU SO MUCH. Our talented and kind volunteers, my supportive mentors, the knowledgeable and brilliant Board of Directors, our amazing project participants, and my wonderful colleagues in and out of TD - I've been so very lucky to get to know you all. I'm leaving with many life-long friends and what is more community than that 🌍

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​Thanks for reading if you got this far! If you'd like to stay in touch, you can find me on LinkedIn or other social media. But hopefully I'll see lots of you before I finish up 🙏💚

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