IFAW: Animal heroes from around UK receive prestigious awards

(London – October 18, 2010) – Nine heroes will tomorrow (Tue) receive prestigious awards for their outstanding work for animals and people from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (www.ifaw.org).

IFAW’s annual Animal Action Awards ceremony will be hosted at the House of Lords by Baroness Gale.

This year’s winners include Queen legend Brian May who is honoured for his Save Me campaign to protect foxes, deer, hare and mink from the cruelty of hunting by lobbying MPs to retain the Hunting Act. Receiving awards alongside Brian May will be Trevor Weeks from Uckfield, whose East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service has rescued more than 15,000 wildlife casualties, and Bath grandmother Helen Hobbs, who organises a nightly toad patrol each Spring to ensure safe passage across a busy road for toads, newts and frogs as they travel to their breeding lake.

London schoolgirl Ellie Rogers (11), will be recognised for giving up her weekends to care for animals at a city farm while Ray Dedicoat, from Birmingham, is honoured for spending 35 years rescuing animals and caring for them at his Hollytrees Animal Rescue Trust. Meanwhile, a business award goes to Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, based in Poole, Dorset, for animal welfare campaigns run in its stores on a range of issues from fox hunting to shark finning and greyhound racing.

Parrot behaviour specialist Yvonne MacMillan, from Argyll, is being awarded for her round-the-clock care rehabilitating neglected or suffering captive parrots. Caroline Gould, from Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, is honoured for her work setting up and running Vale Wildlife Rescue Centre, one of the largest wildlife hospitals in the country which treats up to 5,000 wildlife casualties each year. The final award goes to Labrador Echo, a rescue dog with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service. Earlier this year Echo assisted in the search and rescue effort in Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake.

Robbie Marsland, UK Director of IFAW, said: “We are delighted to bestow these very special awards recognising many previously unsung heroes of animal welfare from across the UK. We hope their truly inspirational stories will encourage others to do all they can to protect animals.”

End.

For more information, photos or to arrange interviews please contact Clare Sterling in the IFAW UK Press Office on +44 (0)20 7587 6708, mobile +44 (0)7917 507717, email csterling@ifaw.org or alternatively visit www.ifaw.org

Stock photos of award winners are available in advance and photos from the ceremony will be available shortly after the event, which lasts from 12-2pm.

Animal Action Awards, sponsored by Nat Geo Wild and the People newspaper, are part of IFAW’s annual Animal Action Week which takes place around the world involving thousands of schoolchildren who are motivated to get involved in animal welfare. This year’s theme is tiger conservation.

If you would like to nominate someone for an Animal Action Award for 2011 please write to: IFAW Animal Action Week, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7UD.

About the International Fund for Animal Welfare – With offices in 15 countries, IFAW saves animals in crisis around the world. IFAW rescues and provides veterinary care to individual animals and advocates for the protection of entire populations. For more information visit www.ifaw.org.

Notes to Editors:

See below for full list of winners, awards and region:

SANCTUARY AWARD: YVONNE MACMILLAN.
Yvonne MacMillan (50), from Kerrera, Argyll, has turned her home into the Island Parrot Sanctuary where she cares around the clock for up to 60 parrots, mostly unwanted pets. Psychological damage and unsuitable diets often leads parrots to self-harm and lose their feathers, but with Yvonne’s help they can usually be restored to health.

CAMPAIGNER OF THE YEAR AWARD: BRIAN MAY.
Rock guitarist Brian May (63), who has homes in London and Surrey, devotes much of his time to animal welfare issues, particularly the protection of British wildlife. In 2006 he successfully campaigned against the culling of hedgehogs in Uist, Scotland and has also campaigned for the banning of snares and greater protection for UK seals. More recently he launched his Save Me campaign to keep the Hunting Act and protect foxes, deer, hare and mink from being chased and killed with dogs.

YOUTH AWARD: ELLIE ROGERS. London schoolgirl Ellie Rogers (11), from Borough, has sacrificed her weekends for the past three and a half years to care for animals at Vauxhall City Farm. Her duties include mucking out, feeding and watering and general care for the animals.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: CAROLINE GOULD.
Caroline Gould (52) from Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, is founder and manager of Vale Wildlife Rescue Centre in Tewkesbury which treats up to 5,000 wildlife casualties each year from birds to foxes, badgers and hedgehogs. Available 24 hours a day to give help and advice to the public on sick, injured or orphaned British wildlife, Caroline also has to find £20,000 per month to keep her centre running which is a constant challenge.

RESCUE AWARD: TREVOR WEEKS.
Trevor Weeks (38), from Uckfield, East Sussex, has been rescuing wildlife for 25 years and now runs East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service (WRAS) which he operates around the clock, despite a recent adder bite almost killing him.
ANIMAL AWARD: ECHO THE LABRADOR. Seven-year-old Labrador Echo, a rescue dog with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, is trained to search for disaster victims at home and abroad. He regularly attends incidents around Manchester with his handler, dog team manager Mike Dewar, from Kearsley, Bolton. In January this year Mike and Echo joined the international rescue effort in Haiti, searching for victims and survivors in the rubble following the devastating earthquake.

ANIMAL WELFARE AWARD: RAY DEDICOAT.
Ray Dedicoat (60), from Hollywood, Birmingham, set up Hollytrees Animal Welfare Trust more than 35 years ago to rescue and care for abandoned, neglected or injured stray pets and wildlife. Ray has become an expert at catching nervous animals, particularly dogs, and is often called out to assist other agencies. Ray will not be travelling to the ceremony and will be at work at his rescue centre when the awards take place. Instead, his trophy will be presented to him at Hollytrees by IFAW staff at a later date.

CONSERVATION AWARD: HELEN HOBBS.
Working grandmother Helen Hobbs (62), from Bath, coordinates Charlcombe Lane Toad Patrol and as well as organising teams of volunteers, for the last 12 years she has spent most nights of the migration period patrolling the area with torch and buckets to assist toads, newts and frogs across a busy road to their breeding lake. Toads and frogs are becoming rarer because of habitat loss and increased traffic but the efforts of Helen and her volunteers has led to a drop in the mortality rate of toads at this particular site.

BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD: LUSH FRESH HANDMADE COSMETICS.
Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics was set up in Poole, Dorset in 1995 by Managing Director Mark Constantine (58). The Lush head office is still based in Poole while the organisation now boasts around 689 shops worldwide, of which 89 are in the UK. As well as operating a policy of no animal testing, Lush has run a number of high-profile animal welfare campaigns in its shops in recent years, confronting issues including fox hunting, shark finning, the exotic pet trade and greyhound racing.