Volunteer hits 1,000 hours as National Trust volunteer

Volunteer hits 1,000 hours as National Trust volunteer

8 October 2025

A LOCAL entrepreneur has reached a major volunteering milestone at the National Trust. 

Colm McClean has dedicated more than 1,000 hours to the organisation’s Mournes team since 2023.

To mark his outstanding contribution, the team presented Colm with a specially engraved ditching hammer — the traditional tool of Mourne stone workers and a favoured hammer still used by National Trust rangers for path building and dry-stone walling in the high Mournes. 

A successful business leader with a background in IT and energy generation, Colm decided to give time back to the community and support the conservation of the Mourne mountains.

He made the decision to work with the National Trust Mournes team on the ongoing restoration and maintenance of the hiking trails across the area, including the main access path from Newcastle to the summit of Slieve Donard.

These trails are among the busiest in the country with over 250,000 trips recorded annually on the main route to Slieve Donard.

Heavy use combined with a changing climate has increased erosion of the delicate heath and underlying peat soils.

The National Trust team has been repairing the main Slieve Donard access path since 2019 to ensure the route is fit for use and sustainable for these high visitor numbers while protecting the surrounding habitats.

As a small team working on the mountain path network, the National Trust depend deeply on volunteers to work alongside the Mountain Rangers ensuring continuous maintenance of the walking trails.

With such a large area to care for the task of protecting the special landscape of the Mournes would be impossible without the generous commitment the volunteers bring to the Mournes team.

Having worked on Slieve Donard in all weather conditions, from the heat of the summer months to wind and driving rain, Colm’s reflection on his work is characterful and candid. 

He joked to prospective volunteers to “be careful what you wish for,” and added that volunteering has given him “a greater understanding of the level of physical and mental resilience required to work on granite walls and paths in the high Mournes”.