Dell McClurg, awarded for community work, reveals how being a single mom spurred her to advocate for change.
This experience changed Dell’s life. Now, people call her “a voice.” She speaks for those who cannot. She fights for better housing and even saved the local school. Dell made sure her housing issues got fixed and vowed to help others.
Dell has defended her community for decades and is now seventy-four. People recognized her work and gave her the British Empire Medal. She also helped wildlife and the area. Dell’s start in life was tough, having lived in a children’s home.
She arrived in the Highlands at sixteen months. Florence and Peter Bruce fostered her. She never knew her birth mother. She thinks life gives you challenges that help you help other people.
Dell saved the Merkinch Community Centre. The council wanted to tear it down in 2016. People often wave to her there, showing thanks for her work. She lives with her partner, Sam Lyall, and raised five kids in the area.
She grew up in Beauly. Florence Bruce was her only mom. The Bruces fostered many kids. Peter and Florence had eight children. “Babies come from the railway,” she thought. Dell later tried to find her birth mother, but the records went missing.
Dell had a happy childhood outdoors. She played in the woods by the river. Sundays meant hill walks and picnics. Her mom showed her nature. She says you appreciate your mom more as a parent.
After school, she went to Edinburgh and then returned to Inverness. At eighteen, she became a single mom. She washed dishes and cleaned offices. Her rented home was in bad shape, and she eventually got a council house.
The council house was awful. Its windows were boarded up. The toilet was really dirty and the bath had green mold. The cooker had grease and maggots. She moved in and waited for repairs, but three weeks passed without help.
Her mom told her what to do. Dell went to the Town House. She told the inspector about her life, and a sanitary inspector came to her house. He put yellow tape on the door and said the house was condemned, which made her cry.
The man cleaned the bathroom himself and said people would face consequences. This was her first act of community service, and she decided to help others. She says she knew her rights as a parent.
Three years later, she moved again. The next council house was on Craigton Avenue. The home was cold, with a coal fire. Newspaper kept the rain out, and mildew grew on the beds. She wondered about others’ homes.
She asked people about needed repairs. They took photos and gathered details. The group went to the Town House. Renovations took five years. This was not the end of her activism.
Dell has been on the council for forty-five years and was chairperson for thirteen. She fights potholes and litter. Others also deserve credit. She credits the collective community actions. They saved Merkinch Primary School.
The council wanted to close it. The community fought the closure, and the council decided to renovate the school. She says the community was strong. “They were prepared to fight it,” she said.
Dell helped create a nature reserve. It is near the Beauly Firth. It is popular for walks and spotting wildlife. She saw the space’s potential. People cleaned up trash and planted trees. Young people got involved.
She runs a volunteer-run visitor center. It’s in the old ferry ticket office. It provides information on the area and tells about local wildlife. “We get people from all over,” she stated. People have come from Alaska.
For twenty-five years, she worked for Action for Children. The group helps kids and families. She loved working with teens and young kids. Later, she worked at a multi-cultural project.
Dell feels a strong community spirit. Plans to build on the reserve caused outrage. Eighty people went to a public meeting. Dell did not say a word, feeling that was important. She remembers a young mom speaking up, standing up to authority.