Luke Neal wins Marsh Charitable Trust's 2023 Award

Luke Neal, Technical Manager in SWT’s Land & Water team, has won the Marsh Charitable Trust’s 2023 award for Leadership and Innovation in Nature Recovery

Shropshire Wildlife Trust are delighted to announce that Luke Neal, our Technical Manager in the Land & Water Team, has won the the Marsh Charitable Trust’s 2023 award for Leadership and Innovation in Nature Recovery.

The award aims to recognise and celebrate an individual who has successfully led an innovative or transformative project to bring back wildlife. In doing so, the leader will have demonstrated strong strategic and partnership leadership resulting in a significant step forward in our agenda to bring back nature.

Luke was chosen from a strong field across The Wildlife Trusts for his contribution over the last ten years including Meres and Mosses Nature Improvement Area, Shropshire Slow the Flow, the Worfe partnership and river restoration works, the development of SWT’s land management advice service.

"I would like to say a huge thank you to those that nominated me and those that thought what I have done was worthy of voting for. I am extremely humbled and grateful.

I don’t seek glory or recognition in my work, but I decided a long time ago that if I was going to do anything then it should be something worthwhile and that I would try to do it well – it is truly rewarding to know that other people also think that what I have achieved has been done well and is worthwhile.

That said, I am always acutely aware that it would be impossible for me to deliver action on the ground without an army of people who have come before and the army of people here now that collaborate, both within the Trust movement and without, to deliver for nature. We are part of an amazing movement that enables us to make real change.

So, I would like to dedicate this award to everyone in the federation, the administrators who process my invoices, the development teams who raise funds, the Policy people who lobby for better regulations and strategies, project officers who get things done, educators who inspire, volunteers that support us, members that fund us, contractors that work with us, landowners and farmers who put up with my crazy ideas AND anyone who wants to see a richer more vibrant natural world.

I’m proud to be a part of this Parliament of Owls, this mustering of Storks, this Whisp of Snipe – this fabulous Romp of Otters!

Thank you"

Congratulations Luke!