Award for Oswestry Master Composter
One of Shropshire’s Master Composters has been presented with a special award for her outstanding contribution to helping to get more people home composting.
Linda Sheppard, from Oswestry, has been volunteering with the scheme since 2006. She has given up hundreds of hours of her time to help to get more people composting.
She was presented with the Individual Achievement Award at the 4th annual National Home Composting Conference held at Garden Organic in Warwickshire last weekend (14-15 May 2011).
Linda has played a fundamental role in the success of the Master Composters scheme from the outset, taking a leading role in co-ordinating other volunteers in her area.
As a retired headmistress she has developed lesson plans and curriculum-linked schools education programmes specifically designed to bring home composting to life for young people, and she has made hundreds of school visits to assist schools in setting up composting and growing schemes.
Linda was presented with a certificate and an engraved crystal bowl in thanks for her efforts by Pauline Pears, Editor of The Organic Way magazine. Linda dedicated her award to the memory of her friend and fellow Master Composter Val Oldaker, who sadly passed away in 2010.
Ten volunteers from Shropshire and Telford Master Composters travelled down to Warwickshire for the conference. They joined around 200 volunteers from all over the UK. The group travelled down in a bus provided by Minsterley Motors, with sponsorship from Veolia, Shropshire Council’s waste contractor.
The group went to meet up with volunteers from other similar volunteer schemes all around the country to exchange best practice and encourage joint working. They heard all about the technical aspects of composting from eminent guest speakers from the Royal Horticultural Society, Garden Organic, University of Plymouth, Campaign for Real Farming and the Waste & Resources Action Programme.
Several of the volunteers were presented with official graduation certificates in recognition of their success in volunteering for more than 30 hours to encourage others to compost.
Mike Owen, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member, said:
“I would like to congratulate Wendy on her award, and thank her and all the other Master Composters for the work they do to promote and encourage home composting.”
Further information
Shropshire Master Composters are a group of expert home composters with enthusiasm for helping others to learn about composting. They were established by Shropshire Council in 2006. Since then almost 100 volunteers have been trained to go into their communities and spread the word about composting and waste reduction. The Master Composters give up their time free of charge to promote home composting through events, home visits, demonstrations, talks, roadshows and school visits. This helps to reduce waste and reduce the need for artificial fertilisers, as well as fostering community cohesion and lifelong learning.
