Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Obituary: Hamish Wood of Inverness, man of public service and compassion

Hamish Wood.

Hamish Wood of Inverness, a man of compassion, action and public service, has died aged 78.

He was a Liberal Democrat councillor on Highland Council for 10 years, had been vice-principal of Inverness College, and helped bring the Dalai Lama to the north of Scotland in 2012.

Hamish was also a passionate cyclist. He took biking holidays across Europe with his children, cycled across the United States, and 18,200 feet up to Everest Base Camp.

He was born in Aberdeen but most of his work and public service were undertaken in the Inverness area.

Among the organisations he served were Inverness CAB, Loch Ness Rotary, the Scouts, Inverness Sports Council, and the Partnership for Wellbeing and Addictions Counselling.

He was also chairman of Inverness Inter-faith Group and a follower of Inverness Caley Thistle.

The Dalai Lama at Eden Court Theatre, Inverness.

Councillor Bill Lobban, convener of Highland Council said: “I was truly saddened to hear that Hamish had passed away as I have such fond memories of him.

“He always took his social responsibilities seriously and spoke up many times for those less fortunate. He was a passionate champion of Fairtrade, spearheading a campaign for the Highlands to attain Scotland Fairtrade Zone status.

“He also played a pivotal role in the planning of the visit by the Dalai Lama to Inverness in 2012. Leading up to the event in Eden Court, he engaged with schools and made sure as many young people as possible had the opportunity to play their part on what was a very memorable occasion.”

Early years

Hamish Wood’s father, Charles, ran a hairdressing business in Rose Street, Aberdeen, and he grew up above the shop with his older brother, Kenneth.

From the age of 11, Hamish worked as a sweeper and soap boy in the shop before beginning a formal apprenticeship at the age of 15.

His father ran evening classes in gents’ wig making and encouraged Hamish to attend.

He gained his City and Guilds qualifications, carried out wig repair work in the salon and went on to become a part-time teacher himself.

Qualifications

This led to him enrolling in a three-year part-time course run by the Institute of Trichology on how to diagnose and treat hair and skin conditions.

Hamish’s skills then took him to Inverness College where he established hairdressing courses.

He played a pivotal role in the formation of a national training board for the hairdressing industry and his efforts were recognised when he was made an honorary member of City and Guilds.

Vice-principal

Hamish rose to become vice-principal of Inverness College with responsibility for developing new college strategies.

After he took early retirement, he accepted a position with Victim Support and become one its regional managers for the east of Scotland and the Highlands and Islands.

Buddhism

Hamish’s love of Tibetan Buddhism and social justice saw him play a major part in the visit of the Dalai Lama to Inverness.

In 2007, he successfully stood for election in the Aird and Loch Ness ward of Highland Council and served as a Liberal Democrat member until 2017.

During this time he was a member of the education, culture and sport committee; finance, housing and resources committee, and the planning, environment and development committee.

He was also a member of the licensing committee, and a very active member of the city of Inverness committee.

Public spirit

Even after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, Hamish’s public spirit could not be suppressed and he visited London every three months to volunteer in a medical project led by Dr Sylvia Dobbs of King’s College London.

His final successful “project” was to establish a peace garden at his home at Kennedy Drive in Inverness.

Hamish is survived by his loving partner Issy and devoted children Ramsay and Kirsteen.