A huge thank you to all members who attended our annual Members' Day and AGM on 14th October, and to staff, Trustees and volunteers for helping to run the event and make it a success. We had an unprecedented amount of interest in the event this year, and over 130 people attended in person, with more watching live online through our YouTube channel. If you missed out, you can catch up with the recording of the event online.

Stands showcased the variety of the Trust's work, and presentations were made from staff members about the Great Fen project and the nature reserve at Cambourne. Our Young People's Forum gave a round-up of their work and hopes for the future.

After lunch, members went out to visit Cambourne nature reserve for guided walks, whilst others enjoyed activities such as autumnal wreath-making, owl pellet dissection, nature journalling and indoor pond dipping, all led by staff and volunteers.

Volunteer Awards

We are delighted that our annual volunteer awards were announced and presented on the day. 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. Recipients receive books up to the value of £75 each. 

Congratulations, and huge thanks, to all our volunteer award winners. We are humbled by your dedication and commitment to the work of the Trust.

The Richenda Huxley Award 

Recognising an outstanding contribution to any aspect of the work of the Trust.

This year’s recipients are:

Suzy Boys

Suzy is a regular in the Northants conservation volunteer work parties, and also volunteers in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, monitoring birds and reptiles in the Great Fen or at Strawberry Hill.

Tim Burke

Tim has been a volunteer with the Trust for over 20 years, as warden at Dogsthorpe Star Pit nature reserve and in weekly volunteer tasks across all the Peterborough reserves.

Julia Rushton

Julia has been a volunteer for many years, as a regular stock checker and livestock assistant, a consistent member of the Nene Wetlands work party, and even helping with canoe-guided dawn chorus events and bat walks.

The Oliver Rackham Award 

Recognising an individual who has demonstrated outstanding service to wildlife through conservation, monitoring or research.

This year's recipients are:

Andy Frost

Andy has been a member of the Trust for over 50 years, starting as a young child. He attended Trust work parties with his Father back in 1972 in the fen edge woods. For over 12 years he has volunteered at the Great Fen, carrying out surveys of birds, botany and insects.

Christine Newell

Christine has been a volunteer for almost 30 years, in roles from scrub management to treasurer of her Local Group, helping with botanical and insect surveys, and as a key member of the small team of office volunteers, analysing breeding bird survey data.

The Jon Smith Award 

Constituted in 2017 in memory of a much loved and missed former Great Fen Restoration Officer, a passionate conservationist who passed away in 2013, this award recognises a volunteer who has gone the extra mile in their work for the Trust, having a significant impact on a particular aspect of the Trust’s work.

This year's recipients are:

Caroline Lewis

Caroline has volunteered at the Great Fen for over 8 years, helping with regular site checks at Ramsey Heights, school visits, family events, guided walks and practical work parties, organising events such as Rothchild’s Way Challenge, and this year also signed up as one of our Great Fen Rangers.

Ian Scaife 

Ian has been volunteering for the past decade, as a Cambourne Ranger, spending 40-50 hours every month on the reserve. He also helps the local toad patrol, and has built well over 500 dormouse boxes for the Trust.

Trustees

Now that they have been voted in, we are pleased to welcome several new Trustees to Council – Caroline Brown, Kim Dunn, Matt Day, Michael Krause, Michael Samways and Richard Vyse – as well as new members of our CECC (Cheryll Wilson and Dr Reiner Schulte) and Resources (James Marsh, Kat Hageman, Rob Hall) Committees, all of whom will lend their considerable expertise to the running of the Trust. We are also pleased to welcome Dr Jenna Bishop as Vice President. You can find out more about all of our Trustees and committee members on the website.

We would also like to thank Dr Matt Walpole, Dr Ananya Muckherjee and Chris Lewis, all of whom stepped down this year, for their support during their time as Trustees.