OREANDA-NEWS. A creative wind farm manager has raised ?5,000 for Beatson Cancer Charity in Glasgow, by recycling old weather testing equipment.

Jim O’Brien’s day job means being outside, battling the elements on rough terrain to make sure SSE’s wind turbines keep up safe and efficient generation of renewable electricity.  Jim buys and sells the right equipment for the job and recently spotted an opportunity to trade unwanted weather masts in a move to raise money for charity.  The ?10,000 proceeds were split between Glasgow’s Beatson Cancer Charity and the Highland Hospice in Inverness.

Jim, from Cumbernauld, who is a site construction manager with SSE, said:

“My family’s been affected by cancer in the past and The Beatson in Glasgow is well known as one of the best cancer treatment facilities in the world. I saw that something a bit unusual could be done outside SSE’s supply chain with these weather masts and just made sure it happened.  It was an obvious win-win for SSE, who no longer needed the masts, and also for Beatson Cancer Charity, which was delighted to see benefit.  Nothing radical was involved, I just thought outside the box a bit and I’d definitely encourage others in the energy industry to do the same to allow more charities to benefit”.

Megan Stobo, Corporate and Events Manager at Beatson Cancer Charity, said:

“We are thrilled Jim has taken the initiative and come up with this great way to support charity, and it’s very welcome he has chosen Beatson Cancer Care as one of those to benefit. All funds raised will help the charity provide specialist posts including nursing, radiography, physics and research-based staff as well as contributing towards enhanced medical equipment, innovative service developments, novel research projects and educational initiatives to support the 8000 new patients who attend The Beatson and its satellite locations each year.”

Megan and Jim also paid a visit to SSE’s Clyde wind farm near Glasgow for a tour of the 350 MW site.