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If one is measured by the company one keeps then I must once have been a curious individual. At least that is my analysis of a short speech made by my boss, Trust Chairman Hugh Tollemache on Monday.
Once a month we have an all-staff meeting at our Conservation Centre in Gloucester. On Monday I was particularly impressed by the number of staff attending; one or two absentees due to previous appointments, but an almost 100% turnout. What I failed to spot was a very pleasant ambush that had been planned at the end of the formal business. I had forgotten that this week marks my 30th anniversary of working with the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.
The curious company reference is not related to my excellent colleagues. The link was in fact 1979 when two other people also began new jobs. Margaret Thatcher and Saddam Hussein took over their new respective roles and I began work as the ‘Executive and Conservation Officer of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation’. The other two members of the class of '79 have now left office but I am still batting on!
The reason that I am still in Gloucestershire is that I have never seen another job that would offer as many opportunities or as much reward as working for The Trust. Since 1979 we have achieved a good deal for the county’s wildlife and are well placed to do even more over the next 30. The Board of Trustees said a very gracious 'thank you' at their Board meeting on Monday evening. It is great to part of a brilliant group of volunteers and staff, supported by 23,000 members, all committed to Gloucestershire’s future.
It would be very easy to get carried away with thoughts of a devoted fan club after such a lovely surprise. To be thanked at all, after merely doing my job, is wonderful. However, there is usually a reality check inbuilt within any surprise. In this case, my colleagues have clubbed together to have me towed to a height of 3,000ft above Nympsfield and cast adrift in an unpowered aircraft.
I have never flown a glider. However, the great Sir Peter Scott set a world gliding altitude record from the same airfield. Perhaps Sir Peter is the real company with which to be compared. He helped found The Trust in 1961 and is one of the leaders of the conservation movement. It certainly is great to be even a small part of such an important movement.
Once a month we have an all-staff meeting at our Conservation Centre in Gloucester. On Monday I was particularly impressed by the number of staff attending; one or two absentees due to previous appointments, but an almost 100% turnout. What I failed to spot was a very pleasant ambush that had been planned at the end of the formal business. I had forgotten that this week marks my 30th anniversary of working with the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.
The curious company reference is not related to my excellent colleagues. The link was in fact 1979 when two other people also began new jobs. Margaret Thatcher and Saddam Hussein took over their new respective roles and I began work as the ‘Executive and Conservation Officer of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation’. The other two members of the class of '79 have now left office but I am still batting on!
The reason that I am still in Gloucestershire is that I have never seen another job that would offer as many opportunities or as much reward as working for The Trust. Since 1979 we have achieved a good deal for the county’s wildlife and are well placed to do even more over the next 30. The Board of Trustees said a very gracious 'thank you' at their Board meeting on Monday evening. It is great to part of a brilliant group of volunteers and staff, supported by 23,000 members, all committed to Gloucestershire’s future.
It would be very easy to get carried away with thoughts of a devoted fan club after such a lovely surprise. To be thanked at all, after merely doing my job, is wonderful. However, there is usually a reality check inbuilt within any surprise. In this case, my colleagues have clubbed together to have me towed to a height of 3,000ft above Nympsfield and cast adrift in an unpowered aircraft.
I have never flown a glider. However, the great Sir Peter Scott set a world gliding altitude record from the same airfield. Perhaps Sir Peter is the real company with which to be compared. He helped found The Trust in 1961 and is one of the leaders of the conservation movement. It certainly is great to be even a small part of such an important movement.
Photogaph (c) Paul Nicholls
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