A PROJECT to celebrate 50 years of the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust has received a £9,500 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
The cash will be used to record oral accounts by the organisation’s volunteers.
The charity was set up in 1968 by a handful of dedicated volunteers and now has almost 400 who supporting its work right across Worcestershire.
Mike Perry, the WWT’s head of resources, said “Our volunteers are central to the success of our work – they come from a variety of backgrounds and take on a variety of roles from caring for our nature reserves to inspiring the next generation and staffing our reception.
“Each one brings a range of skills to the Trust and they have different reasons for getting involved but all have our common aim of working toward the protection of our natural environment.”
The recordings are being done with oral history producer Julia Letts who will be sharing the stories, motivations and memories of at least 20 volunteers over the 12-month period.
She will also train and support a group of volunteers so that they can undertake their own oral history interviews.
The interviews will eventually be stored at the Worcestershire Record Office at The Hive library in Worcester in order to be available to future researchers and members of the public.
The first interviewee is Harry Green MBE of Little Comberton who joined the Trust’s Council as a volunteer trustee in 1969 and is still on it.
He has witnessed vast changes and challenges to the organisation over the past 50 years including the rise in membership to more than 23,000 people today.
Mike added: “We’ve got such a rich history of volunteer involvement with the Trust – volunteers ran the charity without a member of staff being appointed for the first few years, for example.”
Snapshots of people’s thoughts about Worcestershire’s wildlife will also be recorded.
Vanessa Harbar, head of the HLF West Midlands said the organisation was delighted to support the WWT
“Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, this project will capture local memories, building up a picture of the volunteers’ relationship with the county’s natural heritage over the last 50 years.”
Visit www.worcswildlifetrust.co.uk for more on the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust.
