"By way of introduction, my name is Lisa Torrance and I am Circular Glasgow Lead for Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. I have over 20 years of international experience producing major events for the likes of The Commonwealth Games, Edinburgh Festivals and Sydney Opera House as well as a wide range of community engagement initiatives and legacy projects with schools and the third sector both in Scotland and Sydney. I have been fortunate enough to work with many incredible people throughout my career, so I know talent when I encounter it.
Ally Mitchell is like an alchemist whose core strengths lie in being authentic and having the capacity to connect, collaborate, persuade and illuminate. A compulsive dot-joiner, he loves nothing more than connecting people and ideas and making things happen.
Ally speaks very passionately and accessibly about his journey since beginning Ocean Plant Pots. This is why I refer to him as an alchemist; he is able to 'draw people in' to his story and enthuse them about what they can do to help reduce waste on beaches and think creatively about circular economy business initiatives.
Since we met 18 months ago I have been hugely impressed by Ally's drive, creativity, tenacity and modesty. All of these qualities shine through when he shares his story and answers questions from audiences with genuine enthusiasm and insight.
I would honestly be comfortable introducing Ally to anyone - from business leaders to school children as he is someone with universal appeal and a genuinely excellent drive to make good things happen for our planet.
As a further endorsement, he will be coming to my son's primary school in Glasgow before the summer break as they are studying circular economy, something I wouldn't be making happen if I didn't see the value in it!"
– Lisa Torrence, Circular Glasgow Lead, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce
"Ally has worked with us twice – once in relation to our work around COP26 and again in relation to a topic undertaken by our Junior Four children on Sustainability.
On both occasions, Ally was extremely reliable and communicated efficiently in the buildup to his visits.On the day, he held the interest of the children really well, bringing along items of interest as well as having a PowerPoint presentation ready to make sure the talk was well structured.
All of the staff who have seen Ally present have commented on how much they have enjoyed his talks and on the engagement of the children, and on the importance of the subject on which he talks.
I would highly recommend Ally as a school speaker and look forward to having him back into our school ourselves!"
– Maggie Pollock, Deputy Head Teacher, The High School of Glasgow
