Litter picking was a “saviour” for Mark Hunter after he struggled during the Covid-19 pandemic with his mental health. The 51-year-old Crieff native was recently recognised for keeping his town tidy by Keep Scotland Beautiful. He was awarded a award and has become a well-known face on Crieff’s streets.
“I had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression before Covid-19, which worsened as I tried to get through it”, says Mark. “During Covid-19 I was lucky enough to be a key worker with a poultry company. “But when I changed occupations I had a lot more time on my hands and I was offered to go on the (Crieff) community council.
“I found volunteering really helped my anxiety and depression to the point where it’s what I continue to do to this day to manage it.” Mark’s reputation as a local litter hero stems from his time on the community council in 2022. He became interested in volunteering because litter was a regular subject on the agenda at the time.
Crieff residents were becoming concerned that local authority cuts were “It was a show of faith to the public that we would go out and actually do it ourselves”, adds Mark. However, this wasn’t an easy task for Mark, who – like many of us – had struggled with the strains of the pandemic. In the previous two years he admits that he was forcing himself to leave the house for a while.
But he then found comfort in connecting with others who had struggled through the pandemic. Some of his fellow volunteer.