Volunteer of the year

Our winner

Dr Anne Phillips from Walsall in the West Midlands won the Woodland Trust’s regional Volunteer of the Year award.

Wild flowers

Anne began observing nature as a schoolgirl in the 1930s, noting in her diaries the dates of first sightings of wild flowers in her area each year.

In 1976 she began recording 39 annual events more systematically, 27 of which demonstrate a significant response to warmer temperatures by occurring earlier in warmer years. 
 
Appearing earlier

Recent analysis of Anne’s observations shows that horse chestnut and silver birch are now leafing an average of 12 days earlier, blackbirds are nesting 14 days earlier, and frogspawn and tadpoles are appearing 16 days earlier. 
 
Dedicated recorder

Contributing data from 1947 to the present day, the UKPN database is today richer by an amazing 2001 records.
 
Anne is one of our longest serving and most dedicated recorders and richly deserves this award.