Each year FSC UK presents prizes for the most innovative celebrations of its annual awareness raising day, FSC Friday.
This year a new award for Outstanding Contribution to FSC Friday has been intro-duced, in recognition of the work that some individuals and organisations undertake each year to ensure that the FSC message is spread far and wide on the final Friday in September.
FSC UK’s executive director, Charles Thwaites MBE, presented the inaugural award to Camilla Hair, of SCA Timber, on 18 December 2013.
For three years, SCA has invited selected merchant customers to join in celebrating certified wood and forests for FSC Friday, working with infant, primary and special needs schools across the country.
Following school assembly presentations on sustainable forestry and wood products by SCA area managers to members of each school’s Eco Council or Gardening Club, spruce tree saplings were planted from one of SCA’s Swedish nurseries.
Mr Thwaites explained: As a small charity, FSC UK relies heavily on certified companies to promote awareness of the importance of responsible forest management and drive demand for FSC certified products. With the hard work of dedicated individuals, such as Camilla, and the support of companies like SCA, our reach is infinitely greater than we could ever achieve on our own. We want to use this award to reward such commitment to FSC and to encourage others to follow and we congratulate Camilla and SCA for being the first recipients.
Receiving the plaque, made of FSC certified oak, Ms Hair said: It’s a great privilege to receive an award from the well-known and respected organisation that is FSC UK. I’d like to share this recognition with my SCA sales team colleagues, and with SCA’s builders’ merchant customers, as they who do the actual tree planting with local schools, creating memorable events for the children and impressing upon them FSC’s good news about sustainable forestry and wood products.
