Meet this year's inspirational marine volunteers

Since 2014 the Marsh Volunteer Award for Marine Conservation has been awarded to recognise the amazing work Wildlife Trust volunteers carry out to help save our seas. From logging hundreds of species to bringing ocean life to those who cannot reach it, our latest winners are an inspiration to us all.

Mary kneeling by a rockpool with ipad. — Marsh Award Winner Mary Ledlie taken by Matt Slater

The Marsh Volunteer Award for Marine Conservation:

Mary Ledlie

Mary is training as a Seasearch tutor and she helped develop the Cornwall Wildlife Trust methodology for seagrass and kelp surveys. Since 2021 she has been an amazing volunteer racking up 27 forms in her first year before becoming a Seasearch surveyor in 2022 and helping with admin and organisation. She became an indispensable member of the team - taking on the tasks of checking forms and entering them into the database, communicating with volunteers and providing feedback and encouragement.

She became a barnacle expert taking over 300, 5cm barnacle quadrat photos which she analysed to help with a condition assessment of the Fal and Helford Special Area of Conservation.

And if that wasn't enough, Mary has inspired and trained hundreds of new volunteers, many of who now have a better appreciation of our local marine life and are themselves going to continue to help us study and protect our wildlife for years to come!

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Marine Volunteers

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust volunteers have created amazing change for marine work from:

- Donating photos and videos which helps people to connect and to understand and marvel at the breath-taking nature of our seas

- Leading talks, events and workshops

- Undertaking intertidal surveys

- Upskilling through training courses.

They currently have almost 200 marine champions signed up to help with the Solent Seascape Project out of which there are several individuals who really shine with their ability to inspire others and expand the volunteer community.

There are also 270 members of the local community signed up to the Solent Seagrass Champion volunteer programme, supported by the FatFace Foundation. They are involved in all aspects of the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust restoration work, from monitoring and surveying existing seagrass meadows, to seed collection, sorting and planting. They are incredibly dedicated, meeting on the shore as early as 5am. The resotoration work simply couldn't be done without them!

The volunteers have also undertaken three year's of recreational activity surveys across the Solent as part of the EU LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES project, this data has informed decisions on the management of activities around the Solent to protect seagrass meadows.

The dedication of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust volunteers to marine work has significantly impacted the engagement of communities in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. We know there will be a lasting legacy, in the number of people supporting and being involved in local marine projects.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Marine Volunteers - Seaview deployment

Group of volunteers taking part in seagrass survey at Calshot.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife

Marsh young volunteer award winner Cat Bell on a beach with a jellyfish — Marsh Young Volunteer Award Winner Cat Bell

The Marsh Young Volunteer Award for Marine Conservation:

This award is to celebrate the marine conservation work carried out by our young volunteers.

Cat Bell

Cat has been one of the Cumbria Marine Team’s most avid volunteers. She was one of the first to train as a Marine Champion at 14 years old and since then has been leading shoresearch surveys with members of the public every month along the Cumbrian coast, as well as helping to run events for World Ocean Day and other marine festival events.

Cat has become a “Rockpool Roadie” for The Bay programme, and regularly collects rockpool creatures into portable rockpools to bring marine wildlife to groups who cannot easily access the seaside, sharing the joy of marine life with them. She is also one of two volunteers who creates "Species Sunday" posts for Cumbria Wildlife Trusts' social media, bringing her infectious enthusiasm for marine life to members of the public. She has shown incredible dedication to her volunteering and the marine environment, fitting everything in around studying for her GCSEs.

Above all, Cat has a joyful love for the ocean and its wildlife, which she shares with her peers in her school’s Eco Club, as well as with attendees of all ages at the events she leads. Her enthusiasm is contagious, undoubtedly inspiring many others to connect with the marine environment and take action for its protection.