What a night at the Dorset Tourism Awards! We are delighted to announce that we won the GOLD award for Active & Learning Experience of the Year for our Poole Harbour Osprey Cruises, as well as GOLD for the Regenerative Tourism Award. To top it off, we had the honour of receiving the Winner of Winners Award. What a wonderful surprise!

It’s been a mega year so far for the charity! The legendary Osprey pair, CJ7 and 022, produced 4 more chicks, while a second pair at nest site 2 (1H1 and 374) produced 3 chicks. With returning 2-year-old Carey males and visiting females like 6J8, a third pair could be possible next year! Additionally, we have engaged over 10,000 members of the public through our events, including safari cruises, Carey Osprey Tours, ringing demos, and Nightjar walks, so far this year. We’ve launched new initiatives, such as our Women in Conservation network, hosted our first-ever residential weekend for young birders, delivered 100 Swift boxes across the county, and continued to engage hundreds of schoolchildren through our School Bird Boat Project and Conservation Careers talks.

We’ve continued to see an increase in the number of people visiting the area to attend our events, with 50% of our guests travelling from outside of Dorset, often with multiple night stays in the area. This proves that when you put the time, money, and effort into nature’s recovery, it can support the local economy through ecotourism, alongside benefiting people’s mental health and wellbeing. With over half of our event attendees coming on one of our trips for the first time, we are continuing to reach new audiences from all walks of life.

These awards are not just for us, but for the multiple organisations, groups, and individuals working tirelessly across the harbour, Purbeck, and the south Dorset area to restore landscapes, enable the recovery of many species, and inspire thousands of people to connect with nature. It’s a privilege to be able to showcase this amazing work through our trips. Amongst the doom and gloom of world news and biodiversity loss, there are many positive conservation successes to celebrate, and with increased optimism and hope comes even more determination and stronger partnerships to create healthier ecosystems, recover species, and allow more people to discover the benefits of the natural world. 

A MASSIVE thank you to everyone who supports our work by attending our events or spreading the word about the charity. Special thanks to our partners and project funders including Greenslade Pleasure Boats Limited, Careys Secret Garden, National Trust Purbeck Countryside, The Cameron Bespolka Trust, and the support from our fantastic team of volunteers.

Photo Credits: Nick Williams Photography