Commendation for the Mary Burn cleanup campaign

Wednesday June 19th 2019

Cracking-Campaign-MAEDT

Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Luke Jackson

A small Midlothian charity has received a Special Commendation at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations’ 2019 Scottish Charity Awards which were held on Friday 14 June. Mayfield and Easthouses Development Trust (MAEDT) were nominated in the “Cracking Campaign” category for their campaign to have a tributary of the South Esk River, the Mary Burn, cleaned of years of sewage pollution.

Announcing the Special Commendation for MAEDT, host Sally Magnusson described the campaign as a “real David and Goliath” story of two individuals had taking on Scottish Water over a decade old local pollution issue.

MAEDT Volunteer Coordinator Stuart Forbes said “We are delighted to have received this Special Commendation, especially as we were alongside so many other incredible nominees. It is recognition of our work and especially of the strong support of the whole community who have come together to give voice to the issue of river pollution locally, which has implications for rivers across Scotland.”

MAEDT Volunteer Joy Godfrey said, “We came from a sewage infested river to receiving a SCVO Special Commendation because so many people want an unpolluted natural environment – we want to thank everyone who has supported us – together all of us will get change! That is the real prize. We ask that this recognition of our work be a prompt to our governments to take action on the deeply serious issue of river pollution in Scotland.”

The winner in the Cracking Campaign category was Marie Curie and MND Scotland for their ‘Social Security in Scotland – a fair definition of ‘terminal illness’ campaign.

44 finalists were nominated across nine categories such as “Terrific Trustee” and “Pioneering Project” and the winners were announced at a special event at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Friday 14th June. MAEDT was one of only four nominees to receive a Special Commendation out of the 44 finalists and beat large organisations in the Cracking Campaign category such as the British Heart Foundation, Carr Gomm and the Scottish Youth Parliament.

Joy Godfrey also won ‘Outstanding New Volunteer’ Award at Volunteer Midlothian’s Volunteer Awards on 6th June 2019 having been nominated for her work on the Mary Burn by MAEDT.

To join the work please email: joy.godfrey.eco@gmail.com

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