I have recently passed my Chartership to become a Landscape Architect, which was a much more arduous process than I expected. I enjoy working at RPS and working with different disciplines and am proud how supportive the company is. We have mental health first-aiders and there is a health and wellbeing committee.

I know that not every company is so supportive and  that ABS was there for me when I got made redundant during lockdown. They provided support and advice as well as financial support until I could find another role.

My contribution as an ambassador is to bring change amongst my profession and let my contemporaries know that there’s a great support network available through the ABS. Even within my office, my colleagues were unaware of the ABS’s role and how they can help Landscape Professionals in times of need.

I’m a Chartered Member of the Landscape Institute, working in private practice at Ian White Associates Landscape Architects in Stirling, Scotland. It’s essential that Landscape Architects work collectively with Architects and Architectural Technologists to help support struggling colleagues during challenging periods of their lives. My role as an ABS ambassador will be to raise awareness and increase the reach of the ABS amongst Landscape Professionals.

To be an ambassador for any organisation means one has to believe in what they wish to achieve. The ABS has one of the most laudable ambitions for those of us within the built-environment professions – to help those of us who might be struggling in some way. Having been part of this professional world for many years, I have been through numerous difficult times in which I wish I had been aware of a benevolent organisation such as this. Now is my chance to help my fellow colleagues by promoting the aims and ambitions of the ABS to everyone who may wish to know more.

With many years experience of being a Samaritan, I understand that trials and tribulations come in all shapes and sizes; when these become too much for us we would all like to know there might be someone out there who might at least listen to us. By spreading the word on behalf of the ABS, I hope to be able to highlight the amazing things they have done to date and what they will be able to offer for the future.