A 77-year-old conservation volunteer who has put 36 years of volunteering into helping protect the Leicestershire countryside is the winner of the £3,000 Leicestershire First Environment Award.
Ralph Johnson, of Melton Mowbray, was awarded the Leicestershire First prize for his unstinting support of the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust. He is donating his £3,000 to the Trust to further its work in the counties.
Mr Johnson, of St John’s Drive in Melton, has been a trustee and committee member for decades, overseeing the development of three nature reserves. He has been a volunteer reserve manager for more than 30 years.
The former butcher, who owned Ralph’s Butchers in Melton, was presented with the Leicestershire First Award at one of the Trust’s properties, Browns Hill Quarry, to which he has given so much time and energy. Presenting the award to Mr Johnson on November 4 2008 was Freda Hussain MBE. The Former High Sheriff of Leicestershire and retired Principal of Moat Community College in Leicester is an adviser to Leicestershire First.
Leicestershire First is a charity launched in June at County Hall by Maurice and Vivien Thompson, a couple from Leicestershire who want to encourage and celebrate giving and good citizenship. Each year nine awards will be given to reward and promote the values of leadership, excellence and citizenship in the county. For each prize the money must be donated to Leicestershire charities. Anyone can visit www.leicestershirefirst.org.uk to make a nomination.
Maurice Thompson, of Lubenham, said Ralph is an ideal winner of the first Environment Award: “Ralph’s achievements over a staggering number of years are truly inspirational. He began conservation volunteering at a time when protecting the environment was the cause of a few enlightened individuals. Now, when we all place such a high and deserved value on protecting our green spaces and the wildlife which they sustain, it is thanks to Ralph and his colleagues that we have such spaces to cherish and enjoy.”
Mr Johnson, who also established the Holwell Wildlife Group in 1974, helped the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust acquire three reserves in the 1970s, and extend them since. He describes his proudest moment as a conservationist coming just this year, when land was acquired to link up two of the reserves; Brown’s Hill Quarry and the Holwell Mineral Line. The third reserve is North Quarry. He has also given numerous talks and organised annual open days.
Mr Johnson, who is married with a daughter and granddaughter also living in Melton, said he was humbled but very pleased by the award: “I was absolutely staggered and amazed.”
He still enjoys taking nature photographs, a passion for as long as he has been a volunteer. Being out at the reserves at least every other day is still a pleasure, said Mr Johnson: “I’m sure it helps keep me young. I’ve seen many changes over the years. There are lots more volunteers now, and the reserves are open to the public, which is a great thing. I enjoy seeing them used. But we have lost some creatures from the reserves, such as the skylark which we are hoping will come back.”
Mr Johnson said he hopes the Leicestershire First Awards succeed in encouraging more people to give their time and energy to helping Leicestershire’s people and their environment: “It’s a great aim, and I wish it every success.”
Nominations for three Leicestershire First Awards – for Achievement in the Arts and Music, Leadership and Achievement in Sport – can be made now. For details of how to nominate, call Leicestershire First on 0116 249 5330 or visit the website www.leicestershirefirst.org.uk
Highly commended in the Environment Award were: Rowan Roenisch, of Leicester, for her many years as a volunteer and case worker for the Victorian Society; and Yahya Thadha, of Leicester, for his work transforming the MKA Community Centre in the city’s Connaught Street into a flagship example of renewable energy use and an environmentally friendly building.
If you have any questions about Leicestershire First and the awards please call Andy Gilgrist on 01536 772256 or 07989 562517 or email: info@leicestershirefirst.org.uk