A wonderful summertime chore for the Merlin Trust is to announce the report prize winners!
Congratulations to Lisa Whaley and Harry Baldwin who are the 2024 recipients of the Valerie Finnis Prize and Christopher Brickell Prize respectively. These prizes, which each come with a £500 award, recognise excellent reports submitted within three months of returning from a Merlin Trust-supported study tour, as judged by a panel of Merlin Trust Trustees. The Valerie Finnis Prize is awarded for the report demonstrating photographic excellence while the Christopher Brickell Prize is awarded to the best overall report.
Lisa undertook work experience in January/February 2024 at Birmingham Botanical Garden, working in the glasshouses for a week to find out more about horticulture in a different type of garden and a different type of horticulture. Lisa recorded her experience with informative photographs that significantly improved the story enfolding in her report narrative. It is also very difficult to take photographs during these darker winter months! You can see Lisa’s Valerie Finnis Prize winning images on the Merlin Trust virtual gallery.
Harry’s travel bursary took him to explore the trees and forests of Cyprus in Autumn 2023, with a particular focus on Quercus species. This carefully arranged visit took in key habitats and gardens ensuring that Harry spent time with local experts and gained a thorough overview of the forests of southern Cyprus. The resulting report is a comprehensive record of the visit, with great photographs and excellent descriptions of some of the taxa seen. An excellent resource for anyone interested in a similar topic. As Harry’s photos were also really engaging, we hope to set up a gallery on our gallery page soon too!
(Image: Prize winners Harry Baldwin (left) and Lisa Whaley (right))
The Merlin Trust provides young and early-career horticulturists with travel bursaries which allow them to travel for work experience, to see plants growing in their natural habitats and network with other horticulturists to learn new skills that will support their career. Each ‘Merlin’ then provides a written report of what they did, what they learnt and what this might mean for their career. The reports are published on the Merlin Trust website where they are available to download and read for inspiration and information. The annual awards recognise the most outstanding examples of the reports submitted within three months of their return, although almost all reports we receive demonstrate the enthusiasm and commitment of these young horticulturists. Not only do they serve to enthuse others but also demonstrate the possession of different skills and abilities such as report writing and presentation expertise which are all incredibly valuable skills in the horticultural world.
Why not take a look and explore the horticultural world from your armchair? You never know, they might inspire you to plan your own tour…
To find out more about Merlin Trust reports, please visit our website: https://merlin-trust.org.uk/projects/reports/