Alumni Series: Sandy Trust
Name: Sandy Trust
Name: Sandy Trust
School Dates: Ardvreck 1984 – 1989
Senior School: Glenalmond
University and what you studied: Newcastle Uni, Pure Maths, 1st class honours
Where are you now?
I live and work in the beautiful city of Edinburgh, where I’m lucky enough to be the father of 2 (Digby 6 and Rosie 5), married to my lovely and exceptionally patient wife Jo.
What are you up?
Life is busy but brilliant. I feel very lucky to be able to be able to work on the climate change challenge at one of the world’s most influential companies AND to have the amazing family life that we have too
– I am an actuary and work extensively around sustainability and climate change issues in financial services. Really thrilled to have joined Ernst & Young and more on that here.
– I’m highly motivated by the need to address climate change and am the chair and founder of the UK branch of Protect Our Winters – a charity whose mission is to equip the UK outdoor community to take positive action on climate change.
– I love the outdoors and particularly sailing up the West Coast of Scotland, skiing in the Alps and kitesurfing wherever I can!
What is your overriding memory of your time at the school?
An amazing sense of freedom, a really good amount of time outdoors and lots of fun – with fond memories of Barvicks and the Knock. We actually moved back to Crieff for a few years recently and it was amazing to run around the Knock again! Its hard to distill those years into one memory but overall I would say Ardvreck had an incredibly good culture – supportive, kind, hard-working and fun – you don’t get that everywhere.
What do you think sets an Ardvreckian apart from the crowd?
A bottle green jumper of course! I’d go back to that culture really and how that is reflected in individuals – and when I think of the great teams and experiences I’ve been lucky enough to be part of post Ardvreck those elements have been key.
What did you want to be when grew up?
I had no idea! I’ve always loved the outdoors though so I think most dreams revolved around adventures of some sort – hence why I spend 4 winters in the French Alps after University.
What inspires you?
I take huge inspiration from people. I am continually surprised and delighted by the amazing things people do – and constantly have to remind myself that almost everyone has hidden depths. I am particularly inspired by people with a deep sense of purpose, whether that is linked to scaling mountains or improving the state of the world.
Would you consider yourself happy?
I think there is too much emphasis on happiness these days. For me a better measure is satisfaction – if you can find something you love doing, you are good at, the world needs and that you can be paid for – then you will find a much deeper satisfaction (you may recognise the Japanese concept of Ikigai).
