SSEN Transmission teams help spruce up community green spaces across Beauly
24 April 2026
Image: Some of the volunteers involved in the community garden tidy-up. Credit: SSEN Transmission
Local green spaces across Beauly have been given a welcome boost thanks to a community volunteering initiative delivered by teams from SSEN Transmission and their contractor Siemens BAM (SEBAM).
A combined team of around 25 volunteers swapped their usual tools for spades, shovels and rakes to help spruce up several community garden spaces throughout the village.
The volunteers represented both the ongoing Beauly 132kV Substation upgrade as well as development teams from the proposed Fanellan Substation project, delivering a coordinated programme of improvements designed to benefit the local community.
Image: Volunteers helped install three new planters, clear vegetable beds and construct new trellis. Credit: SSEN Transmission
A wide range of gardening initiatives were carried out, including significant upgrades at Beauly Community Garden, where volunteers installed three new raised planter beds, improved paving throughout the garden, fitted trellis structures to help grow climbing plants and completed general site tidying ahead of the upcoming growing season.
Image: The three new raised planters ready for the upcoming season. Credit: SSEN Transmission
Teams were also given a helping hand by a small group of pupils from Beauly Primary School, who joined the team to help sew some carrot seeds in the freshly cleared plots.
Over at the Lovat Memorial Garden, teams worked to clear-up paving slabs and tidy up the space, clearing away leaves, weeds and branches from the area.
Image: The spruced-up Lovat Memorial Garden. Credit: SSEN Transmission
Image: Teams worked to clear-up paving slabs and remove leaves, weeds and overgrown vegetation from the memorial garden. Credit: SSEN Transmission
Further landscaping work was also carried out on Riverside Drive and Station Road, with teams clearing branches, tidying-up the verges and sharpening up the flower beds.
The green-fingered initiative was delivered in collaboration with local community groups including Beauly Community Council, who helped advise where the team could most direct their efforts.
Highland Fencing and Barriers, a subcontractor supporting the proposed Fanellan Substation, also supported the initiative by volunteering some of their team to help. Students and apprentices studying at UHI Inverness’ Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) Scotland Academy short course were also involved, helping to gain valuable hands-on experience and practical insight into construction related activities.
The volunteering works were warmly received by the local community, with positive feedback from residents, community garden members and the Community Council, who welcomed both the visible improvements and the commitment shown by the project teams. The groups volunteering efforts have helped enhance shared spaces and reinforced SSEN Transmission and SEBAM’s role as active and responsible partners within Beauly.
Nathaniel Uyoh, Assistant Project Manager at SSEN Transmission, said:
“It’s been fantastic to see colleagues, partners and members of the local community come together to benefit Beauly. These shared green spaces are clearly valued by residents, and we were proud to play our part in helping to refresh and enhance them ahead of this year’s growing season.
This volunteering initiative is a great example of what can be achieved when project teams, contractors, community groups and young people work together. We’re grateful to everyone who supported the day, including local organisations, UHI Inverness students and the excellent helping hand from pupils at Beauly Primary, and we’re pleased the improvements will leave a lasting benefit for the community.”
Both project teams remain committed to continued community engagement in the area, with further improvement activities already planned for the coming months. These include power washing paved areas, restoring and repainting benches, and completing additional tidy-up works across the village.
The joint effort reflects SSEN Transmission and SEBAM’s ongoing commitment to making a positive contribution to the communities in which they operate, alongside the delivery of critical electricity infrastructure for the region.