The Greenwood Volunteer Awards 2014
22 September at the John Fretwell Sports Centre, Mansfield.
Malcolm Hackett gave a very warm welcome to everyone before handing over to Councillor Knight (Chair of the Greenwood Partnership) to give the opening address. He wanted to say a big thank you to all the volunteers in all the groups under the Greenwood umbrella. Without their time & effort our local green spaces would not be shown at their best and the public would not be so encouraged to use them. He noted that with the pressure of council cuts the input from volunteers will become even more important. Occasions like this he said are a chance for him to say thank you to the people at the "coal face" and for enthusiastic volunteers to exchange ideas, so long may it continue.
The rest of the evening was hosted by Colin Barson (Chair of the Greenwood Community Forum) in his own inimitable style - braces and all! He kept the proceedings on track and added a little humour and a great deal of knowledge about the work of the volunteer groups along the way.
Chris Jackson Notts Biodiversity Officer gave a short talk on progress by the Notts BAG (Biodiversity Action Group) in the last year and outlined some of the past achievements and future threats. He then presented the Nottinghamshire Biodiversity Award to David Shaw for his relentless work in spotting, reporting and helping to remove the dreaded Himalayan Balsam and also recording local butterfly populations.
The Walking for Health award was given to two people as they were both equally brilliant and the panel couldn't choose between them. The recipients both encourage walking in our green spaces by planning, arranging and participating in walks with a variety of groups, both able bodied and the less-able.
The winners were: Colin Johnson of Sherwood Foragers and Maureen Hayden of Walk & Talk.
The winner of the prestigious Young Volunteer Award was just 13 years old. Her work as a volunteer at a community café has been much appreciated by customers and fellow volunteers that she has helped train.
The winner was Lucy Walvin.
The Team Endeavour Award given to a volunteer conservation group this year went to the Innova House Volunteers. Under the guidance of Sarah Spurry they have become involved with Maun Conservation Group's work. The conservation group have built pond dipping platforms and, in partnership with other bodies, improved the scrape, they have bid for and won grants allowing them to plant fruit trees and generally improved the site for school party visits. They then forged links with the members of Innova House and formed a great relationship. The Innova House volunteers help with litter picking and have, rather noisily, helped make bird boxes for the site. Their help is always much appreciated and carried out with a smile. They were very popular winners!
The nominations for Senior Volunteer Award were:-
Ken Hamilton (and Nolly the dog) of Brinsley Headstocks Group who was awarded a certificate and
Harry Pye of the Maun Conservation Group who also gained a certificate.
But the award was given to Bob Thacker of Mansfield Woodhouse Millennium Trust.
In the Long Service Volunteer Award honours were shared between Terry Cumberland of the RSPB who took the certificate and Margaret Passey who took the award for her 15 years on the committee of the Friends of Moor Ponds Woods and has helped them apply for many conservation and heritage grants to further their work.
The Long Serving Team Award saw George & Sue Thompson take the honours for their work in the Country Parks and Lee Maxwell and Leander Sellie take the Trophy for their work with the Forestry Commission.
The Adult Volunteer Award went to Richard Smith for his unstinting work at the Rushpool Heath Nature Reserve with his friends from the Forest Town Nature Group.
The Volunteer Team Award saw the Friends of Bramcote Ridge awarded a certificate for their conservation work on the acid grassland they care so much about, whilst the Friends of Brierley Forest Park took the trophy which marked their 20 years of conservation work. Amazing!
The closing speech was given by Malcolm Hackett and was a review of the Greenwood's progress with "Different Perspective". He noted that we have together carried out 41 projects to plant trees worth around £14,000 which equates to 2,648 trees - he assures us he counted them all! He was encouraged by the involvement of so many young people in the Friends groups as this is securing our future at the local level. There is a very large Heritage Lottery Fund bid in at the moment and we all have our fingers crossed for the outcome which should be known in October. He also noted our success at the Major Oak Festival where adults and children alike were able to enjoy the trees and connect with their history. The Major Oak has been around for about 800 years - trees have a different perspective on time. What we do now will affect everyone's future. Keep up the good work!
For photos of the event see the gallery.
The rest of the evening was hosted by Colin Barson (Chair of the Greenwood Community Forum) in his own inimitable style - braces and all! He kept the proceedings on track and added a little humour and a great deal of knowledge about the work of the volunteer groups along the way.
Chris Jackson Notts Biodiversity Officer gave a short talk on progress by the Notts BAG (Biodiversity Action Group) in the last year and outlined some of the past achievements and future threats. He then presented the Nottinghamshire Biodiversity Award to David Shaw for his relentless work in spotting, reporting and helping to remove the dreaded Himalayan Balsam and also recording local butterfly populations.
The Walking for Health award was given to two people as they were both equally brilliant and the panel couldn't choose between them. The recipients both encourage walking in our green spaces by planning, arranging and participating in walks with a variety of groups, both able bodied and the less-able.
The winners were: Colin Johnson of Sherwood Foragers and Maureen Hayden of Walk & Talk.
The winner of the prestigious Young Volunteer Award was just 13 years old. Her work as a volunteer at a community café has been much appreciated by customers and fellow volunteers that she has helped train.
The winner was Lucy Walvin.
The Team Endeavour Award given to a volunteer conservation group this year went to the Innova House Volunteers. Under the guidance of Sarah Spurry they have become involved with Maun Conservation Group's work. The conservation group have built pond dipping platforms and, in partnership with other bodies, improved the scrape, they have bid for and won grants allowing them to plant fruit trees and generally improved the site for school party visits. They then forged links with the members of Innova House and formed a great relationship. The Innova House volunteers help with litter picking and have, rather noisily, helped make bird boxes for the site. Their help is always much appreciated and carried out with a smile. They were very popular winners!
The nominations for Senior Volunteer Award were:-
Ken Hamilton (and Nolly the dog) of Brinsley Headstocks Group who was awarded a certificate and
Harry Pye of the Maun Conservation Group who also gained a certificate.
But the award was given to Bob Thacker of Mansfield Woodhouse Millennium Trust.
In the Long Service Volunteer Award honours were shared between Terry Cumberland of the RSPB who took the certificate and Margaret Passey who took the award for her 15 years on the committee of the Friends of Moor Ponds Woods and has helped them apply for many conservation and heritage grants to further their work.
The Long Serving Team Award saw George & Sue Thompson take the honours for their work in the Country Parks and Lee Maxwell and Leander Sellie take the Trophy for their work with the Forestry Commission.
The Adult Volunteer Award went to Richard Smith for his unstinting work at the Rushpool Heath Nature Reserve with his friends from the Forest Town Nature Group.
The Volunteer Team Award saw the Friends of Bramcote Ridge awarded a certificate for their conservation work on the acid grassland they care so much about, whilst the Friends of Brierley Forest Park took the trophy which marked their 20 years of conservation work. Amazing!
The closing speech was given by Malcolm Hackett and was a review of the Greenwood's progress with "Different Perspective". He noted that we have together carried out 41 projects to plant trees worth around £14,000 which equates to 2,648 trees - he assures us he counted them all! He was encouraged by the involvement of so many young people in the Friends groups as this is securing our future at the local level. There is a very large Heritage Lottery Fund bid in at the moment and we all have our fingers crossed for the outcome which should be known in October. He also noted our success at the Major Oak Festival where adults and children alike were able to enjoy the trees and connect with their history. The Major Oak has been around for about 800 years - trees have a different perspective on time. What we do now will affect everyone's future. Keep up the good work!
For photos of the event see the gallery.
