BAMPTON couple Brian and Caroline Seward have been awarded a national award in recognition of their volunteer support for Exmoor National Park.
Brian and Caroline, who received the award from National Parks UK, have been volunteering on Exmoor for over eight years.
They started helping by making regular checks on three different dormouse monitoring sites and have since become licensed dormouse handlers.
They have also helped with the spring leaf emergence survey on an annual basis, otter surveys, support at public events to help children make dormouse boxes, promoting the Exmoor Wildwatch campaign and manning the tea stand raising money for the National Park’s donation scheme, CareMoor for Exmoor.
Brian and Caroline spoke about dormouse conservation and volunteering at the first Exmoor Wildlife Forum in 2015. They are now helping as National Park Ambassadors, assisting staff teams in National Park Centres and at busy honeypot sites.
A busy life has rarely got in the way of volunteering with holidays, grandchildren’s football matches, pigeon breeding and showing, all being undertaken carefully around their volunteering commitments.
“Brain and Caroline thoroughly deserve the award for all their hard work over the years”, said Jackie Kiberd, Get Involved project co-ordinator at Exmoor National Park Authority.