OPAL takes home runner-up trophy at prestigious Lottery Awards

The Open Air Laboratories project (OPAL) was recognised as one of the UK's best environment projects at the National Lottery Awards 2011 in London on Saturday 5 November.

OPAL, led by Imperial College London, beat hundreds of projects from across the UK to take home a runner-up trophy at the gala ceremony, which was broadcast live on BBC One and hosted by Myleene Klass. On accepting the award, Dr Linda Davies, OPAL Director, Imperial College London, said "We are absolutely delighted to have our project recognised with this award. Through OPAL, we are developing a new generation of nature-lovers, not just children and young people, but also adults who haven't had the opportunities to get involved with nature.”



The Field Studies Council is also a big part of OPAL with their position as one of the project’s national partners. The charity’s role has included designing all six of the national survey packs and running an active outreach programme visiting schools across the country since 2008. OPAL helps with the organisation’s aims of helping people to explore and be inspired by the natural world.

Presenting Dr Davies with the trophy on Saturday, Cheryl Fergison, Eastenders' "Heather", said: "National Lottery players raise £30 million every week for large and small projects across the UK. The National Lottery Awards are a fantastic way of celebrating the enormous amount of hard work that goes into making these projects a success."



The project was pipped to the post by the Green Valley Centre, Bryncynon, which transformed an old waste ground into a thriving community garden providing local people with skills and training to grow local produce.

The National Lottery Awards are an annual search to find the UK's favourite Lottery-funded projects. All the projects entered in the competition had already received Lottery funding and the Awards recognise the difference that these projects make to local communities, and celebrate the achievements of the people behind them.

To find out more about the OPAL project, and how to take part please visit the website:
/supporting-you/fsc-projects/opal-open-air-laboratories.aspx

Tuesday, November 8, 2011