National Trust of Guernsey warmly congratulates the Guernsey Conservation Volunteers on this richly deserved honour. We extend our sincere thanks for the enormous amount of work GCV has undertaken across our land portfolio for many decades. Their commitment, skill and sheer hard work have shaped and protected some of the island’s most valued landscapes in Trust care. We are deeply grateful for their long-standing partnership, their remarkable volunteering spirit, and the difference they continue to make to Guernsey’s natural heritage.
The Guernsey Conservation Volunteers (GCV) have become the Bailiwick’s first-ever recipients of the King’s Award for Voluntary Service — the highest honour a voluntary group can receive in the UK and Crown Dependencies, and equivalent to an MBE. This marks the first KAVS awarded locally since the scheme began in 2023.
Founded in 1996, GCV has spent nearly three decades protecting the islands’ natural environment and improving biodiversity. Their volunteers work every Wednesday and alternate Saturdays across a wide range of habitats throughout Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm and Lihou. Last year alone, more than 200 volunteers took part in over 90 working parties across 31 local sites.
Their major achievements include removing more than 250 tonnes of invasive sour fig, enabling native species to return, and a four-year effort in Bluebell Wood which has seen the removal of over 500,000 stinking onion bulbs, helping our native bluebells thrive. The award follows a year-long nomination and assessment process, culminating in the announcement received by GCV’s Operations Director, Angela Salmon, earlier this month. Representatives will receive the award crystal and certificate from the Lt-Governor in due course, and two volunteers will attend a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.
National Trust of Guernsey Patron Lt-Governor Sir Richard Cripwell praised GCV as “a dynamic, collaborative and well-run charity that’s admirably aligned with His Majesty’s priorities of climate and community”, noting that their work delivers “very real benefits to the Bailiwick’s natural environment and the wellbeing of islanders.”
Photographs:
📸 National Trust of Guernsey: Guernsey Conservation Volunteers working at National Trust of Guernsey's Lé Petit Pré, a wild orchid field in the Talbot Valley | GCV accompanied by Sir Richard Cripwell on a working party at Lé Petit Pré | GCV working at NTG's land at Le Gouffre and Le Bigard