The second instalment of the ‘Our Big Blether’ podcast has now been released.
The podcast, hosted by Paul Graham and Maureen Lees, sees the duo make connections across health and social care in Lanarkshire and beyond.
The aim is to encourage connectedness across these large organisations which they believe contributes to an increased sense of resilience and wellbeing. They describe the podcast as a mix between ‘Desert Island Disks’ and ‘Off the Ball’!
The second podcast, which was released during COP26, sees Paul and Maureen being joined by Marie Porteous, head of sustainability and environment manager for NHS Lanarkshire.
During the podcast, Marie gives an insight into her life growing up: “I am Lanarkshire born and bred in the 60s. I’m the oldest of three girls. I did have a little brother, but he sadly didn’t make it. I’m from a large Lanarkshire family with lots of cousins.
“At school I was interested in science and numbers and asked to do technical drawing. But I was made to do home economics.
“After school I went to college then university to study engineering. I was the first girl to have ever studied that course. I still remember walking in and the lecturer saying ‘excuse me dear this is an engineering course’.
“I was also the first woman working as a graduate engineer in Glasgow City Council.”
Marie lived in Aberdeen, Glasgow and London before returning home to work within NHS Lanarkshire, which she believes happened for a reason.
“I thought I’d love to work in the NHS. Shortly after I came back, mum was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. So the timing of me coming back to Lanarkshire was right. I got to be with my mum when she needed me most.”
Speaking of her current role, Marie said: “I feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world because I get up and go to a job that I love every day.
“For example, we need to keep our buildings heated every day. So it’s about getting to know the management of the contracts and all of the engineering ‘techie’ side.
“At the moment we are at 74% of the 75% target set by Scottish Government to reduce emissions by 2030. We’ve made enormous strides, but we have got so much more left to do. It’s exciting, we are looking at technology and working across all aspects of the organisation.
“There are emissions generated from nearly everything that we do and we are looking at our whole fleet. 56% of our footprint is from procurement, so we are looking at our supply chains.
“Our catering teams are also moving away from single use products, which are difficult to recycle. There is a move towards more real crockery and cutlery over plastic.
“I think technology will continue to bring massive advancements. For example, eight years ago our electric cars were getting about 60 miles from a charge. Some of these vehicles in our fleet are not doing over 200 miles before they need charged.”
A new episode of the podcast will be shared every two weeks. To listen, visit: https://ourbigblether.buzzsprout.com/
You can also keep up to date with the podcast by following on Twitter (@OurBigBlether), Facebook (@BiggyBlether) or by emailing ourbigblether@gmail.com.
