George’s time with the Local Group began in 2004 when he joined to support the Group in leading walks and organising talks for local members and wildlife enthusiasts in the Huntingdon area. With an enormous enthusiasm for supporting the Trust’s efforts, and with a great gift for getting others involved and things done, he became Treasurer and Events Coordinator and in 2007 took on the task of heading up the Group as Chairman.

The Committee, with George at the helm, continued to grow. The Group ran regular indoor talks and guided walks at local reserves along with special events such as evening BBQs with moth trapping, bat detecting and star gazing. George also raised extra funds with his fellow volunteers at Brampton Wood by processing and selling firewood from the extracted trees.

As a life-long fan of real ale, and a member of the Campaign for Real Ale, George persuaded the local CAMRA branch to adopt the Wildlife Trust BCN as their official charity and received generous donations from CAMRA Festival goers for several years.
Through these efforts, the Group raised over £30,000 for the Trust’s work in the area whilst George was Chairman.

I first met George in 2005 and was always struck by his enthusiasm and great support. More recently I have been working closely with Local Groups and had the pleasure of getting to know George better. Known for his love of local real ales, one of the first Committee socials I attended was in a pub garden – a great setting!

George’s support of the Trust did not stop at fundraising through the Local Group; he also went on to become Voluntary Warden at Brampton Wood Nature Reserve in 2005. As one of four Wardens, George helped with practical work and to build up a Team of volunteers to help with the management of the site. Leading monthly work parties, George encouraged many local people to get involved in helping to look after this gem of an ancient woodland. George also organised regular walks at the wood, including annually in bluebell season, attracting large audiences of over sixty people, and raising additional funds.

Brian Eversham, our CEO, knew George well: ‘George’s warmth and larger-than-life personality made him unforgettable. His passion for wildlife and willingness to help anyone and everyone enabled him to transform the Huntingdon Local Group into our largest and most successful. His persuasiveness ensured that the Group had a large band of regular helpers as well as its committee, and I hope will guarantee its future success. For many years George was a leading light at Local Group conferences, sharing ideas with others, and demonstrating what was possible.’

Keen to engage with younger audiences, George also promoted a prize-winning project involving young people living in Brampton for the Anglia in Bloom competition.

In 2015, in recognition of George’s work, he was awarded the Richenda Huxley Award in honour of his outstanding contribution to the Wildlife Trust. The annual volunteer awards are announced and presented at the Trust’s AGM each year. Volunteers are nominated by staff across the Trust and chosen by our Council in recognition of outstanding contributions, long service and for having an impact on the work of the Trust.

George’s untimely death took him from us all too soon. He will be remembered for his great efforts in promoting, and fundraising for, wildlife and wildlife conservation, and for his determination to get things done. George welcomed me to the Hunts Local Group Committee like an old friend and was a pleasure to work with. He will be much missed.

Dedications in memory of George will be arranged in Brampton Wood.

Written by Rachel Price, Local Groups and Volunteer Support Manager, The Wildlife Trust

When I first began developing ideas for community and school events in Peterborough back in the early 2000s Judith offered me great advice, help and support. As someone who had a great deal of experience in engaging people in wildlife and wildlife conservation, Judith was generous in giving her time and expertise to me in helping build up a successful series of children’s events and school activities in the area, as I had no experience whatsoever. A quietly knowledgeable and engaging person, children and adults alike were enthralled by her approach.

Judith also went on to lead one of our Wildlife Watch Groups. Watch Groups are the Trusts’ wildlife clubs for primary-aged children aimed at inspiring the next generation of wildlife experts (and perhaps Wildlife Trust and other conservation organisation staff!). I wonder how many of the children Judith inspired are now working in wildlife conservation.

Debbie McKenzie, Communities and Education Manager for the Wildlife Trust at Paxton Pits said ‘I remember organising a surprise leaving do for Judith in the middle of Gamlingay Woods along with Aidan Mathews, then Senior Reserves Officer for Cambridgeshire (now Senior Reserves Manager for the Trust in Bedfordshire), pretending that we needed an important meeting to collect folders when she retired. Overnight heavy snow fell and turned the woodlands into Narnia. Judith rang me as she wondered whether she really did need to return the folders that day, as with the weather turning it may not be so important. We had organised for some of her colleagues and former colleagues to come to the wood and they were waiting in the snow. I walked Judith around a bit having that urgent meeting ‘before stumbling upon’ Aidan and former colleagues cooking jacket potatoes on the fire. So yes, we really did need to get those folders back that day! Such sad news about Judith; what a wonderful lady.’

Brian, our CEO, remembers Judith fondly: ‘Judith brought the wonder and joy of nature to the widest range of audiences. Kindly and gentle, she was the most supportive of colleagues, who cared about people as much as wildlife. She enabled children to produce artwork of such a high standard that I initially assumed it was commissioned from a professional. As with all good teachers, we’ll never know how far Judith’s work reached, but hundreds of people will have treasured memories of their encounters with nature under her gentle guidance.’

Helen Moore, a former education officer based at Ramsey Heights, said ‘We worked together on school visits at her centre in Bedford and my centre over many years but it was community events where her imagination and creativity came to the fore. Following a course on “Story walks”, we set up a community event at Ramsey Heights to try out what we had learned. Visitors joined two women, in costume, on a walk exploring the working of the brickworks in Victorian times, followed by the “anniversary tea” with appropriate games, tea and home-made cakes. Judith’s enthusiasm and creativity came to the fore again when we were involved in the “Woodland Linkage project” in Gamlingay and Waresley Woods. Together with a local artist, we worked on an art project with three local schools in the woods and back in the schools. We also held community events at Bluebell time, and seed collecting and planting on the newly acquired land with local schools. Judith was a very supportive colleague and a very special friend.’

Judith will be fondly remembered by her former colleagues for her gentle nature, her love of wildlife, and for her skill in engaging with audiences of all ages.

Written by Rachel Price, Local Groups and Volunteer Support Manager, The Wildlife Trust

Guy shared his photographs, and his time, with the Wildlife Trusts, and his images crown various publications, including Alan Bowley’s book, The Great Fen, A Journey Through Time. He has been submitting entries to our Wildlife Trust BCN photographic competition for many years, I remember some of his photographs from over 12 years ago, they were all so good.

I was in regular contact with him over several years, not just through a shared love of the Fens (as photographers), but also because he volunteered for many surveys in the Great Fen. Day and night, Guy ventured out to the place he loved, and helped us to gather data on birds of prey, bitterns, glow worms, great crested newts, harvest mice, stonechats, and water voles. Our glow worm surveys only started a couple of years ago, but his fellow volunteers really enjoyed their evenings out with Guy, seeking these illuminating beetles.

More recent adventures, with trail cameras, provided yet another chance to reveal the natural world to us all. The videos from these, and the short films he produced, added yet another insight into the world of Fenland wildlife such as foxes, badgers and kingfishers, which Guy shared with us all.

His photography skills brought the natural world alive for so many people, and this was not just locally but nationally as well, his award-winning photographs gracing books, magazines, leaflets, calendars, as well as more than a few of the presentations I have given over the years. You can explore some of his work on his own website, Fen Photos. | The World Through A Lens.

Guy and his work will certainly be missed by the staff and volunteers at our Wildlife Trust, our neighbouring Trusts, and many, many other people who shared his love of wildlife and the Fens.

Written by Henry Stanier, Monitoring & Research Officer (Great Fen).

Henry Stanier, the then Wildlife Trust Ecology Groups Officer (and still with the Trust now) said 'I remember her coming to Wildlife Training Workshops, such as ‘Beginning with Birdsong’, which we ran at Ring Haw Field Station in the spring of 2009. She also attended ‘Beginning with Peterborough Wildlife’, back in in the summer of 2010. I also worked closely with her and the Peterborough Local Group back then, as well as events such as open days at Old Sulehay, and talks of course.'

I first met Chris at an Ecology Groups workshop in 2009 where we chatted about the Trust’s ambition to set up a voluntary Local Group for the Wildlife Trust in Peterborough. Chris expressed an interest in getting involved, and so began her tireless work to recruit other volunteers. Chris went on to Chair the Group until 2016, after which she was still heavily involved.

In those 7 years, Chris got the Group up and running, and lead on organising walks and talks, organising venues, speakers and walk leaders. The events raised thousands of pounds for the Trust’s work in Peterborough, helping with vital management work on our nature reserves in the area.

In 2011, Chris also set up a wildflower project close to home. Inspired by Peterborough City Council’s soil bunds, placed on the greenspaces around her home to prevent vehicles accessing the areas, Chris saw an opportunity to create some wildflower banks. Working with the Council and nearby Leighton Primary School, we applied for a small grant, and in 2012, lead the children in a seed-sowing project. Watching 40 children all sowing wildflower seeds by hand was a great joy. Chris tirelessly worked to arrange the right management with the Council, creating a living, lasting memorial and a demonstration of what can be achieved at a local level. Chris and her partner Jim continued to survey and help manage the banks, weeding out unwanted plants by hand.

In recognition of Chris’s dedication to the work of the Wildlife Trust, she was nominated for and awarded the Richenda Huxley Award in 2017. The annual volunteer awards are announced and presented at the Trust’s AGM each year. Volunteers are nominated by staff across the Trust and chosen by our Council in recognition of outstanding contributions, long service and for having an impact on the work of the Trust. The Trust was humbled by Chris’s dedication and commitment to the work of the Trust.

Chris did not stop her work here, however. She continued with monitoring projects for the Trust, and more latterly, became Community Warden at Thorpe Wood, helping to look after this lovely woodland nature reserve.

Not only did Chris become a great ambassador for the Trust in Peterborough; she was also hugely respected and much liked by all who worked with her. She gave support to all the staff in the Trust who had the pleasure of working with her. And for my part, Chris showed me huge kindness and became a good friend. She will be greatly missed.

Brian, our CEO, reflects on Chris’s contribution: ‘Chris was the epitome of a Trust volunteer and Local Group leader, warm and friendly, always welcoming to new people, and so unassuming about her own considerable knowledge of wildlife that everyone felt immediately at home and able to join in.'

A plaque in memory of Chris will be placed in Old Sulehay Nature Reserve; one of Chris’ favourite places.

Written by Rachel Price, The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.

David was a hardworking, reliable and loyal volunteer for the Wildlife Trust in Bedfordshire. Always one of the first to arrive on task, brushcutter gear at the ready, eager to receive instructions for the workday ahead. And instructions, well they were key for David. A scientist through and through, David was a man of precision and would always carry out work precisely how you instructed him to do it. And when a task was complete, David could be found propped up against a pitchfork, gazing into a bonfire or happily chatting with his fellow volunteers and Wildlife Trust staff. 

He enjoyed the physical aspect of volunteer work and found pride in giving back to both nature and his community in Bedfordshire. But equally, David found friendship and social fulfilment among the people that he volunteered with. While on the face of it we are a group of staff and volunteers with tasks to complete, what we have become over the years is much more than that. We are a community, from many different walks of life, who come together over a shared passion for wildlife (okay, well perhaps there are a few whose shared passion is chopping down scrub and the wildlife part if an added bonus!). As part of that community, we support one another, we share stories about our lives, our families, our favourite Lake District hikes! We lean on one another (or our pitch forks) for support, we share advice, we question, we learn, and we eat biscuits together! And through all of this we build lasting and meaningful relationships with one another. So, when we hear of the loss of one of our group, we collectively grieve the loss of that friend. 

On the day before his passing, David’s last gift to us at the Wildlife Trust was to contribute to the creation of a new path at Strawberry Hill, a site that he had loyally volunteered at since we were trusted with its management in 2022. In memory of David and his contributions to both his community and nature conservation across Bedfordshire, we at the Trust would like to name the new path, right in the heart of Strawberry Hill, ‘Todd’s Trail’. This gently meandering path is the perfect place for quiet reflection, surrounded by the wildlife and landscape that meant so much to David. May he rest in peace.  

Written by Chantelle Warriner, Bedfordshire Reserves and Conservation Officer, the Wildlife Trust