Our Volunteers

Our first volunteers joined us in 2006. Find out what they have to say about Generation Scotland and how you can get more involved in supporting our goals.

Generation Scotland collects lots of information on our volunteers, from DNA to lifestyle questions and by linking to health records. We couldn't do any of our research without our volunteers. So we wanted to know: are we using this data to research what matters the most to them?

With 'Our Generation Scotland', we aimed to improve our understanding of what health challenges we should be investigating and why our volunteers are involved in Generation Scotland.

Lewis James Haughton took photos of some our volunteers and we asked them:

  • Which health conditions matter to you most?
  • Why did you join Generation Scotland?
  • What would your main aim for Generation Scotland data be?

Thank you to everyone who got involved!

Read what they had to say by taking a look at our gallery.

Want to be part of the conversation? Join the discussion on our social media to let us know what matters to you:

You don't have to be a current volunteer to have your say either. We welcome all opinions in guiding our future research!


At Generation Scotland, we are committed to listening to our volunteers and making their voices heard in health research.

If you would like to go the extra mile to help Generation Scotland, be sure to let us know during the signup process that you’re open to us contacting you about public involvement. This includes opportunities to shape the future of our research or share your experience as a volunteer. There will be an option to answer “yes” or “no” about whether you would like to do this.

Topics we have previously contacted volunteers about include:

  • Feedback on technical tests and questionnaires
  • Representing their local area
  • Helping us welcome more diversity within our study
  • Sharing why they joined Generation Scotland
  • Giving feedback or submitting materials for social media

If you change your mind, you can unsubscribe from our Volunteer Voices mailing list any time.