We were delighted to receive a visit from our Vice-President Sir David Suchet and Lady Sheila on Saturday afternoon. Accompanied by President Eric Wood, Bob Williams and Peter Buck they came to see the progress made on the Darnford Moors Ecology Park since the project was begun last year.
David’s reaction to what they found on their first visit to the Darnford Moors project:
“I really can’t believe what I’m seeing. If I can put it in plain English – I’m gobsmacked!
“It’s a wonderful cause. It has moved on now to ecological development and it has gone way beyond canals and boating, and it’s vitally important to our whole environment. “
Sir David became involved in this project in August of last year when the Trustees were assembling a funding bid for the Biffa Award. As well as volumes of paperwork and hoops to jump through, we needed to include a 5-minute video outlining the project, and we needed it at short notice.
I filmed Bob, Chris and Peter talking briefly about their area of expertise. Who better to narrate our video than our vice-President of over 20 years!
The script was written by Colin Booker and we emailed it to David.
He phoned me – “When do you need it by? “
“Err, could you do it tomorrow?”
“But I’m going on holiday tomorrow and we have friends coming for dinner this evening!”
This is not the way professionals with a reputation for quality normally work but nevertheless a few hours later he called me again with a WhatsApp link to download a recording from his mobile phone. And needless to say it was superbly suited to our needs.
We are greatly indebted to Sir David for his contribution and especially for going that extra mile. The video was an essential ingredient in the bid for the Biffa Award and in convincing them we are worthy of it, although, perhaps it is primarily down to the fact that it is such an outstanding cause with such outstanding people involved that we were successful.
Paul Marshall 11th June 2023
