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News

Local Champion Cleans Up at National Award

27 October 2010

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Barbara Wardle, the local River Watch Champion for Haydon Bridge was presented with the Volunteer and Community Engagement Award at the Association of Rivers Trusts Ceremony in Appleby.

barbara_wins_art

The awards are open to Rivers Trusts nationally and this year partners from continental Europe joined the proceedings after a thoroughly engaging day full of seminars on the theme of flooding and how to cope.

Barbara has successfully completed first aid and river invertebrate identification courses to be able to run interesting and relevant activities safely. She organises events every summer from stream cleans to habitat improvement and awareness raising activities; and still makes time to carry out monthly samples of the local water course towards monitoring health and picking up on pollution events rapidly. The events are always accompanied by delicious home-made goodies created from produce out of Barbara's garden which has definitely helped build a strong River Watch team.

On receiving the award Barbara's response was 'I'm quite overwhelmed! I do what I do because I believe in it and it needs doing.'

'I have every respect for Barbara. She's brilliant!' says her River Watch officer, Ceri Gibson, 'The work Barbara has taken on voluntarily has freed me to develop River Watch groups elsewhere. I have complete confidence in her, the last time I popped into one of her events, I was relegated to coffee maker and cake-eater!'

The award was sponsored by Drainmarkers and on presenting it, their representative John Brewington said, 'I was particularly taken with the true commuinity aspect of River Watch and Barbara's genuimne commuinity spirit.'

The new coalition governement talks a lot about 'Big Society' and we await their definition. In the meantime River Watch groups throughout the catchment are getting on and doing. There local contribution is positively impacting the river environment, their sense of pride in their local area and improving the river for all users and stakeholders.

CONGRATULATIONS Barbara from the TRT Team!

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