Brockholes Volunteers win Trust accolade

Wednesday 9 October 2019

Alice Singleton

One of the Marketing Officers for LWT and Brockholes. I am most at home walking through the countryside with my camera, a notebook, and my dog. From farmlife to wildlife, I love our county and the wonderful sights and sounds which surround us.

Brian Jones

The Lancashire Wildlife Trust's annual Volunteer Conference proved to be particularly fruitful for the Brockholes volunteers this year.

With hundreds of volunteers across the whole Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside, it's lovely for everyone to come together once a year to celebrate their dedication, support and fantastic work for the Trust.

This years conference, held at the University of Central Lancashire, was no exception, with guest speaker Simon Webb’s talk on Wild Ennerdale proving to be a triumph, provoking thought and comment.

We learned about linking green spaces, reintroducing species and our Stone Age ancestors and their gardening skills. Conservation grazing, rewilding and wildlife in your back garden were also on the agenda, with some Lego building bringing back happy memories for many of us. Gary Hart also spoke about getting our voices heard in Parliament over the constant drone of “Will we? Won’t we?” that is dominating our politics at the moment.

As well as guest speakers and fun activities, the all important Volunteer Awards took place, a chance for the wider Trust to show their upmost respect and gratitude for the work these volunteers do, day in, day out.

Many awards were given to our wonderful Brockholes tribe:

Volunteer Conference - Brian Hunt — Brockholes Reserve Officer, Lorna Bennett with Brian Hunt and LWT President, Chris Davies

Unsung Hero – Brian Hunt

The whole staff team at Brockholes nominated Brian for his immense levels of assistance with conservation work at Brockholes. Brian is always there to assist at the drop of a hat, whenever he is needed. Much of his work is unseen by visitors, other volunteers and staff at Brockholes but without his support and dedication, we would not be able to achieve our conservation objectives.

Tim, Lorna and Chris Davies - Volunteer Conf 2019

Volunteer Group of the Year – The Brockholes Facilities Team

The team is made up of Phil Cairns, Mo Sadaat, Brian Bellas, Dave Wignall, David Armer and Michael Wright, a group of volunteers with a huge range of trade skills, knowledge and experience gained from many years in industry. They bring their knowledge, experience (and good humour!) to the unique challenge of looking after our floating Visitor Village at Brockholes. This nomination comes from all the staff at Brockholes in recognition of how much they are appreciated by all of us. Their work goes on "behind the scenes" so it is wonderful to see the team take centre stage at the wards and be recognised or their efforts keeping Brockholes floating!