To share her passion for diving, Julie Turney has helped Mercian Divers win grant after grant
VOLUNTEERLIFE
FACTFILE
Name: Julie Turney Job title: Branch Chair and Equipment Officer First dive: July 2011
When Julie Turney from Hanbury in Worcestershire, first met her now husband and his diving friends she told them:“ I would rather stick pins in my eyes than go diving.” Sometime later, after accompanying their club on an Egyptian liveaboard and watching them for a week, she changed her mind.“ I did my first try dive when we returned,” she says,“ and I haven’ t looked back”.
Julie, like many divers from the English Midlands, started her diving career in Stoney Cove; she then ventured abroad to Egypt, Spain, the Canaries, Turkey, Indonesia, Galapagos, Malta, Zanzibar and has carried on diving all over the UK including on the wrecks of Scapa Flow. Now an Advanced Diver and Assistant Instructor, she has 400 dives, all neatly logged.
I ask what captured her interest in diving.“ I love the quiet underwater, being in a different world; also, there’ s the thrill of the flying feeling while on a drift dive or revelling in the history of a wreck while exploring it.”
“ Seahorses are my passion,” she says.“ Observing a pair of seahorses dancing together for 30 minutes is absolutely magical.”
Julie got into volunteering to support her club, Mercian Divers branch 2463. She says she just likes organising activities for fellow members.“ I love supporting our club as it allows me to contribute to a cause I care about, and I enjoy making a tangible difference.” She is Branch Chair and
Banking the money
To share her passion for diving, Julie Turney has helped Mercian Divers win grant after grant
Paul Smith, Julie, Phil Turney
48
Try Diver Sally Leighton with Julie