The Cultural Volunteers Program was held in Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands, June 28–July 7, 2024, hosted by the American Women’s Club of Central Scotland and chaired by Amanda Drollinger.

There were 12 participants (six girls, six boys), ages 13–17, from Berlin, Heidelberg, Hamburg, Torino, AWG-Paris, Languedoc-Roussillon, Stockholm, Dublin, Central Scotland and FAUSA.

The program ran 9 days, which was longer than our usual 7 days. This was because there were 5 days in the Highlands, arrival and departure days, leaving the teens 2 days in Edinburgh.

They received community service hours for the following: 

• 5 hours – Audio Description Association Scotland and ARTlink facilitating access to the theater for the blind and partially sighted and those with hearing loss at the Festival Theatre Edinburgh 
• 5 hours – Scottish Seabird Centre North Berwick sea life conservation and beach clean 
• 16 hours – Trees for Life Dundreggan Rewilding Centre working in land management and  forest regeneration and conservation
• 3 hours – Highland Wildlife Park animal welfare and rewilding/ reintroduction of Scottish wildcats.

The participants reflected on their experience through individual essays: Cultural Volunteers: Scotland 2024 – In Their Own Words (you must be logged in to view this content).