Calderdale Countryside Volunteers are our Nature Recovery Champions at the South Pennines Park Awards 2023.
Calderdale Countryside Volunteers are a team of around 15 people ranging in age from 40 to their 80s, who undertake a wide variety of practical work including: creation of leaky dams, cutting back foliage to improve rights of way, biodiversity work, tree planting, and drainage across the whole of Calderdale.
They also take part in the Calderdale Sphagnum Moss Project, recycling Christmas trees, carry out path maintenance, invasive species management, fly tipping removal and signage installation.
Kelly Elliott and Christine Ewer collected the award. The pair have been involved in different projects across different woodlands, all of which have unique needs. Kelly has also been involved in the highly important sphagnum moss discovery project to grow the moss in a polytunnel and work out which will best help resto re the moorland in Calderdale.
Kelly said: “We feel excited. We’re shocked! Our guys and girls would be really humbled.
We don’t do this for the plaudits, we do it because we’re countryside lovers, that enjoy ‘doing’.
“It’s nice to feel like we are making a difference, that what we are doing is important.”