The Nature of Scotland

Celebrating
100,000 awards
There have been repeated warnings recently about
people becoming detached from nature. But a
successful awards scheme run by the John Muir
Trust points to hope for the future
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Some of the scenes
and people from the
special event held
to mark 100,000
John Muir Awards.
The John Muir Trust, the UK’s leading wild land
charity, reached a pretty special milestone recently
when it presented the 100,000th award under its
environmental award scheme.
To mark the occasion, a special event was held at the Royal
Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, with representatives of the first,
10,000th, 20,000th, 50,000th and 100,000th John Muir
Awards attending.
The success of this flourishing environmental award
scheme has seen it quickly grow from its Scottish origins
to become widely established across the UK. The award
is focused on wild places, encouraging awareness and
responsibility for the natural environment, in a spirit of fun,
adventure and exploration.
Following the example of Scottish conservation hero John
Muir, tens of thousands of participants have now enjoyed
their own adventures in wild places, and taken responsibility
for looking after the environment.
“The award is open to all,” explained Rob Bushby,
manager for the John Muir Award. “It was set up to
encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to connect,
enjoy and care for wild places.
“It’s not competitive but it is meant to challenge
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those who take part. They have to show enthusiasm and
commitment for discovering a wild place, actively exploring
it, doing something to conserve it and sharing their
experiences.”
The recipient of the 100,000th award was 13-year-old
Cumbrian school pupil Jake Atkinson, and the activities he
undertook to achieve the first two levels of the award show
the sort of commitment that can be involved.
Jake was part of a group from Ullswater Community
College, Penrith, who completed a wildlife garden project.
It involved hedge laying, dry stone walling, tree planting
and pond construction, as well as creating water features,
sculptures and homes for wildlife.
He and his friends also volunteered for a variety of
outdoor activities in the Lake District National Park, working
with the Field Study Council and the Forestry Commission.
And over the past couple of years Jake has been helping a
range of students with ASDs (autistic spectrum disorders)
towards their own John Muir Awards.
“What I enjoyed most was helping some of the younger
pupils to achieve the tasks they were given in the garden,”
said Jake. “I also liked working with my friends in the ecogarden
and learning new skills to take home and use on the
farm. I enjoyed meeting and getting to know new people, but
most of all having fun!”
The Nature of Scotland