The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Childline volunteer Norman Hutchison, 102
Norman Hutchison, who began volunteering with Childline aged 85 and served until he was 100, has died aged 102.
He had spent a good deal of his life involved in youth work before several business ventures in the north of Scotland.
Two years ago, he was honoured for his service to Childline when founder Esther Rantzen travelled to Aberdeen to present him with an award.
Norman, of Dyce, volunteered as an office administrator at the charity’s Aberdeen base and completed 15 years’ service.
He was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2020 for his services to voluntary work.
His son and two of his daughters received his medal in a presentation in Aberdeen Town House from Lord Provost Barney Crockett.
Norman Hutchison was born in Mount Florida, Glasgow, the son of GP Neil Mccoll Hutchison and his wife Isabella.
After education at Glasgow High School he then had a spell at Glasgow University.
In 1947, while working at a youth club at Bridgeton Cross, Glasgow, he met his future wife, Lilian Flett, and the couple married in August of that year. They went on to have four of a family.
Shortly after their marriage, Norman was appointed secretary of Edinburgh Union of Boys’ Clubs and the Scottish Schoolboys’ Club. The couple then moved to the capital.
Between 1947 and 1966 he helped organise Easter and summer camps for young people to Dalguise, near Dunkeld, and Bruar, north of Blair Atholl.
In 1966, Norman was appointed youth and community officer with Aberdeenshire County Council and the family moved into a home in Carlton Place, Aberdeen.
After his career in youth work, Norman and Lilian realised an ambition to work for themselves and bought a guest house in Boat of Garten where they remained until the early 1970s when they took over the Spar in New Pitsligo.
The couple retired in 1993 and moved to Dyce where Norman became involved in a composting scheme and Dyce In Bloom. He was predeceased by Lilian in 1998.
At the age of 85 he attended an interview with Childline for a position as a volunteer administrator.
At his BEM presentation, three Childline staff joined the family and referred to him as “our very own Captain Tom”.
Over many years, Norman was a volunteer at the annual Gardening Scotland show at Ingliston, Edinburgh, and was honoured by the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society in recognition of his highly regarded and significant contribution to horticulture and gardening in Scotland.
He was rewarded with a certificate of appreciation from Dyce in Bloom and Dyce Gardening Club.
Norman is survived by his four children, seven grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.