Wha’s like us… Shanna Greenless

W HEN next time you moan about the youth of today, remember Shanna Greenless, 14, who celebrated her birthday by joining the Scottish Women’s Rural Institute.

A sacrifice too far, you might think, for a girl who should by rights be plugging into her Xbox and networking on her smartphone rather than whiling away the hours with ladies of a certain age. Not a bit of it, for Shanna, from Madderty in Perthshire, is the third generation of her family to join the SWRI and signed up after being brought up on the stories of her grandmother Isa. She says her inspiration to join was the love of Isa’s “tales and misadventures at the Institute” but also confesses that she also enjoys the cakes. All three generations now attend the monthly meetings and Shanna has already distinguished herself by giving a presentation about her pet corn snakes. Isa, at 70, is now the branch’s oldest member and Shanna the youngest, and the national chairman says the teenagers’ presence has had a galvanising effect. A real example of the Big Society at work.