Joe scoops Green Heart award for nature workshops

AN Aberystwyth man has scooped a top climate prize at an awards ceremony in Westminster.

Joe Wilkins, a former Ysgol Llanilar and Penglais pupil from Aberystwyth, was nominated to win an award for his work delivering nature positive workshops across Wales, with fellow organiser Gethin Jenkins-Jones and in collaboration with Climate Cymru and RSPB Cymru.

On 27 February the national climate awards initiative, the Green Heart Hero Awards, returned to the Palace of Westminster for the first time since 2020 after disruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Joe travelled to Westminster Palace for the awards ceremony, hosted by Sky News presenter Kay Burley.

Joe and Gethin won the Great Big Green Week Event Hero Award as the workshops occurred during the Climate Cymru Green Tour of Wales, itself part of the UK-wide Great Big Green Week.

The awards are coordinated by The Climate Coalition to recognise the people, politicians, businesses and more who have gone the extra mile to help create a cleaner, greener future. Attending the ceremony were MPs and Peers from across Westminster parties, NGO leaders and presenters.

Award categories included recognition for small and large businesses that champion sustainability, innovative initiatives, locally elected leaders, parliamentary champions, and people and groups working to break down social barriers in communities to achieve action on climate change and biodiversity loss.

Joe said: “When we talk about the environment, it is so easy to focus on the negative because there is a lot of bad news out there like climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.

“However always focusing on the negative is not always the best for catalysing change. In these workshops, we focused on asking people across Wales “what does nature mean to you?” and people had the opportunity to share their thoughts, fears, but most importantly their connection to nature past and present and their hopes for the future.

Bronwen Smith-Thomas, Co-Director at The Climate Coalition said: “These awards are a fantastic opportunity to amplify and celebrate the great work being done by groups up and down the country. The Climate Coalition is proud to platform the efforts, often unseen, to tackle climate change and protect nature in Britain. We, alongside the nominees, are passionate about making change and will make every effort to demonstrate that elected officials need to step up and do their bit too.’

The Green Heart Hero Awards takes place in the run up to The Climate Coalition’s flagship campaigning moment the Great Big Green Week, the largest celebration of action on climate and nature in communities across the UK. Hundreds of thousands are expected to take part across 10-18 June in thousands of events in towns and cities in all four nations.

As part of Great Big Green Week, Joe will be holding an event in the Bandstand in Aberystwyth to celebrate local wildlife and our the connection between our communities, culture, and nature later this year.