Erin McDonald from Inverness has been awarded a prestigious Outstanding Contribution to Marine Mammal Rescue Award by BDMLR’s Trustees. Erin was presented with the award by BDMLR Trustee, Martin ‘Boonie’ Boon.
He commented: “I have known Erin since her family moved up to Scotland from Devon where her dad was Area Coordinator, from the start she has fully engaged with all aspects of the charity. Over the past 18 months Erin has shown commitment and dedication and an enthusiasm to push the publicity of BDMLR and the Large Whale Disentanglement Team. She has organised and run fundraising quizzes in local pubs where she has worked, and so far, has raised over £1600 for BDMLR and the LWDT. She has been helping her dad from a young age and last year completed her training and qualified as an instructor to teach on Marine Mammal Medic courses. She also applied, and after a stringent sifting process followed by an intensive selection weekend was one of only seven invited to become a member Large Whale Disentanglement Team and after attending every training weekend since, becoming a Rescue Technician Logistics and soon to become Rescue Technician Operations. She regularly attends seal and cetacean rescues and any pups that get picked up are cared for at the facility at their home. She is a credit not only our Marine Mammal Medic training team, the Large Whale Disentanglement Team, and the charity, but to herself and her family.”
Congratulations to Erin and thank you for all your hard work!
The Outstanding Contribution to Marine Mammal Rescue Awards (or Trustees Awards for short) are chosen by BDMLR Trustees Alan Knight, Mark Stevens, Geoff Hammock, Faye Archell, Martin Boon and Gavin Parsons and presented to Medics who have gone above and beyond for the charity and demonstrated a dedication to helping the marine environment in a positive way.
This year there are 9 awards, however, due to the nature of the charity and the number and spread of directors and trustees not everyone will be presented at the same time, so over the coming weeks you will see who has received an award.