Our young seagrass superheroes honoured for saving our seas

Marine heroes celebrated for going the extra nautical mile at Marsh Awards

A beach cleaning team in Lincolnshire, shark monitors in Lancashire and two bright stars of the future from North Wales have been recognised at the Marsh Volunteer Awards for Marine Conservation today, Wednesday 30^th July.

A partnership between The Wildlife Trusts and The Marsh Charitable Trust, the Marsh Volunteer Awards for Marine Conservation recognise the amazing work Wildlife Trust volunteers carry out to help save our seas.

The online awards ceremony took place as part of National Marine Week – The Wildlife Trusts' annual celebration of UK seas. The ceremony co-incided with our annual seagrass seed picking event and so we were joined by our fantastic winners and project partners for a special event at Porthdinllaen.

Marsh Young Volunteer Award for Marine Conservation

Faced with such an impressive cohort of nominees, the judges chose two winners for the Marsh Young Volunteer Award for Marine Conservation, both from the North Wales Wildlife Trust.

Oscar Basu smiles at the camera, wearing a North Wales Wildlife Trust branded high-vis with a cuddly toy badger perched on his shoulder

Oscar Basu, North Wales Wildlife Trust: Joint winner

Endless enthusiasm, in-depth knowledge and a dedication to mentoring his younger peers earned Ocean Rescue Champion Oscar his win.

Over the past year, Oscar has volunteered more than 100 hours for North Wales Wildlife Trust, helping with fieldwork such as seagrass planting and as an excellent representative of the Trust at public events.

He is an incredible role model and mentor to the younger Ocean Rescue Champions, and the impact he has had on the group has not gone unnoticed.

Anna Williams stands on a beach, in waterproof clothing and wellies, during one of her volunteer sessions

Anna Williams, North Wales Wildlife Trust: Joint winner

Another Ocean Rescue Champion, Anna has become an ambassador for seagrass, taking part in everything from seed collection to planting and even speaking to politicians ahead of COP16.

Reliable, dedicated and always ready to help, Anna is keen to help spread the message about the importance of seagrass and contributed an excellent article to the North Wales Wildlife Trust’s summer magazine.

Both young volunteers have grown in confidence over the past year and share a passion for sharing their knowledge and inspiring others about marine conservation.

The Marsh Charitable Trust said:

“We are pleased to be working with The Wildlife Trusts once again this year to present the Marsh Volunteer Awards for Marine Conservation. Since 2014, we have celebrated volunteers’ commitment to the protection of the seas and marine wildlife. We would like to congratulate this year’s winners and look forward to learning more about the invaluable contributions they are making to their local environments and Trusts.”