IFAW Award
Twelve animal heroes, including one dog, have received prestigious awards for their outstanding contribution to animal welfare from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Our very own Serena was one of them.
The awards ceremony was hosted by Baroness Gale at the House of Lords in London and presented by IFAW patron, actress and model Lisa B.
Fellow awardees included Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fernley Whittingstall who won an award for their work on factory farmed chickens and Mandy the dog who received the ‘Animal of the Year' award after saving her owners life twice
Left to right: Baroness Gale, IFAW UK Director, Robbie Marsland, Serena and Lisa B.
Serena won the Wildlife Rescue Award
This is no mean feat as thousands of people were nominated and the panel had to read through all the nominations and supporting letters before deciding.
"These are very special awards and it is great to be able to recognize so many deserved heroes," said IFAW UK Director, Robbie Marsland. "I hope this will inspire other people across the entire UK to help animals in need."
The back ground to this story starts with a lady called Beryl, a volunteer for about 18 months, who had first come across the centre when she found an injured pigeon she needed to find help for. She was very impressed with the centre and Serena in particular for her devotion to the patients. After this first visit Beryl was traveling regularly with casualties and enrolled as a volunteer. One day she heard on the radio something about awards for animal rescue and decided to find out more about it.
Armed with the information she needed Beryl nominated Serena and asked others to support her nomination, this we did and the rest is History.
Serena traveled to London on 14th October 2008 with her family to attend the ceremony. She met other awardees and the organisers of the event, their local MP was there and lots of reporters.
They went though security initially then Serena was lead from room to room where she was interview by various people from the media then on to the ceremony where she was presented with her award.
Serena pictured with the local MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
They had a lovely day and were able to spend a little time in London before the long journey home.
Itv news covered the story the night before
