Thetford man takes gold

01 Dec 2014 | No. 2014-71

Doug Mullings of St John’s Way, was awarded a gold medal this weekend for outstanding service to the Thetford based British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).

Doug receiving his award from Chris Packham

Since 2003 Doug has given almost 4,000 hours of his time digitising the BTO’s library of bird photographs, scanning in and labelling a quarter of a million slides, all as a volunteer. This huge effort will ensure that the rich history of BTO bird photographs is safe forever.

Paul Stancliffe, Media Manager at the BTO said, “It is staggering to see how many individual bird images Doug has processed. If we stacked them on top of each other they would be the second tallest man-made structure on the planet, at 750 metres tall. Without the huge amount of time Doug has given to the Trust our image library would be in a much poorer state, he is a very worthy winner of the BTO’s Jubilee Medal."

Doug Mullings, commented After a serious car accident left me unable to work, finding any work became almost impossible and I lost a sense of worth. Spending time helping the BTO brought that back to me.”

He added, “Checking all of the bird images that go into the BTO library gives me great pleasure, so I find it overwhelming to be recognised in this way, and I am extremely pleased to receive the BTO medal.”

The medal was presented to Doug by TV wildlife presenter Chris Packham.

Notes for Editors

  1. The Jubilee Medal is awarded by the BTO for committed devotion to the Trust and for contributions to the Trust other than directly to its scientific work.
     
  2. The BTO is the UK's leading bird research charity. A growing membership and up to 60,000 volunteer birdwatchers contribute to the BTO's surveys, collecting information that underpins conservation action in the UK. The BTO maintains a staff of 100 at its offices in Thetford, Stirling, Bangor (Wales) and Bangor (Northern Ireland), who analyse and publicise the results of surveys and projects. The BTO's work is funded by BTO supporters, government, trusts, industry and conservation organisations. www.bto.org

Contact Details

Paul Stancliffe
(BTO Media Manager)

Office: 01842 750050
(9am to 5.30pm)
Mobile: 07585 440910 (anytime)
Email: press [at] bto.org

Images are available for use alongside this News Release.
Please contact images [at] bto.org quoting reference 2014-71

The BTO has an ISDN line available for radio interviews.
Please contact us to book an interview
Office: 01842 750050


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