Those of you have taken part in Our Wild Coast may have met 15 year old Bethany Burrell at some point in the past. Bethany joined the project back in 2016, and after taking part with her group from Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones, she stayed with us – continuing to develop her skills and knowledge whilst mentoring and supporting other young people from her school who were new to the project. Over the past 3 years she has become an integral part of ‘Mon Gwyrdd’, our Anglesey based youth-led environmental forum, and currently represents Our Wild Coast on the UK-wide Our Bright Future youth forum – ensuring that environmental issues that matter to young people in North Wales are heard and discussed at a national level. Her passion for wildlife is boundless, and so far she has logged over 230 hours of volunteer time spent protecting, promoting and sharing the wonderful wild places that we are so lucky to have on our doorstep.
It’s this commitment to protecting the natural environment that meant Bethany was a finalist for Young Volunteer of the Year at the Welsh Charity Awards on 15th November - a glitzy black-tie affair, held in the grand surroundings of Cardiff’s National Museum. Bethany had made it into the final three, already an amazing achievement considering that nominations had come from charities and organisations right across Wales, and in the end only narrowly missed out on the top spot – taking away an award for finishing runner-up.
Everyone at NWWT would like to congratulate Bethany on her fantastic achievement, and all of us on the project are looking forward to having her on board again as we head into 2020!