School of Anthropology and Conservation alumna Jennie Martin (Woolf 2011) has won the Environment category of the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland 2014 Awards, in recognition for her work with her charity Wild Things!
The Awards feature eight categories; film, art, business, food, sport, writing and the environment, with previous winners including people such as Gordon Buchanan, JK Rowling and Ewan McGregor. ‘Whilst I am not so sure I quite fit in with such high profile names, it is still a fantastic accolade to win this award and have the work of Wild Things! nationally recognised’ says Jennie, who graduated from Kent in 2013 with a Master of Science in Ethnobotany.
Jennie created Wild Things! in 2003 as an environmental education charity which provides outdoor experiences for people of all ages, regardless of emotional, physical or financial barriers, with activities to benefit both the individual and the environment.
‘Our fundamental premise on all our programmes is that our work is embedded with the ethos of providing programmes that encourage a ‘mutually beneficial experience for all’ she explains. ‘We often work with the John Muir Scheme and John Muir’s personal ethos of a ‘Hand, Head and Heart’ approach to caring for and understanding the natural world. At Wild Things! our programmes stimulate curiosity (head), provide opportunities to roll up our sleeves and get stuck in through bush-craft or conservation activities (hand) and we are committed to doing this in a meaningful and fun way (heart)’.
‘I was delighted to win this award’ says Jennie. ‘It has undeniably been a lot of hard work over the past 11 years developing and supporting the charity to do what it does today, and this just couldn’t have been possible without all the people who have worked at Wild Things!. We have a great team and the results of this are evident in the fact that 98% of our participants want to return to do more courses with us.’
To find out more about Wild Things! please visit www.wild-things.org.uk