ONE of East Lothian’s best-loved conservation volunteers, Margaret Wight, has died at the age of 89 after battling cancer.

A diminutive figure with a great sense of humour, Margaret won the East Lothian Volunteer of the Year award in 2012 for her work in particular with SOS Puffin, run by the Scottish Seabird Centre, and Aberlady Bay Local Nature Reserve.

Between 2007 and 2016, Margaret went out on almost 100 work parties with SOS Puffin to the islands of Craigleith and Fidra, to clear vegetation from puffin burrows.

She was also a volunteer at Aberlady Bay and, elsewhere, was a path warden and bumblebee monitor.

Born in Aberlady in 1929, Margaret grew up in various East Lothian villages and was the eldest of seven children.

She left school at 14 and worked on a farm; later she joined the WRNS, serving as a cook before she married and settled in North Berwick with husband William Wight and children Rodger and Fiona.

She worked for Crawford’s the bakers for 20 years, including managing their North Berwick shop and for the last 16 years she lived in Macmerry.

On retirement, Margaret filled her life with voluntary activities – as well as her conservation work, she was a fundraiser for the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS), Poppyscotland and Children Living With Metabolic Diseases (CLIMB).

She joined charity expeditions to Everest Base Camp and Zimbabwe, and undertook two solo long-distance charity cycle rides in Scotland.

John Hunt, organiser of SOS Puffin, said: “Margaret was a wonderful supporter of SOS Puffin, coming out to the islands well into her 80s. At the end of a long work party, she would still be going strong while young ones were flagging.

“She made many friends on these trips and left lots of happy memories.”

John Harrison, warden of Aberlady Bay Local Nature Reserve, added: “Margaret was a truly inspirational person.

“More often than not the first to get going on a task and the last to finish, Margaret would commonly work longer than volunteers a fraction of her age.

“She was a very well-liked and fun member of the volunteer group, who achieved a great deal for nature conservation over the ten years she volunteered with us.”

Margaret passed away at the Edington Hospital, North Berwick, on September 8; she is survived by her children Rodger and Fiona, and her grandchildren Moyra and Andrew.