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Computer
facilities provided for Mount Cameroon research.
November 2007
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The
JWCT has helped to improve the very limited computing facilities
at Buea University in the Cameroon in West Africa. Funding of
£865 was provided in November 2007 for the purchase of a
new Pentium IV desktop computer with scanner, printer, photocopier
and voltage regulator for use by students at the University’s
Department of Geology and Environmental Science, in order to improve
teaching resources and facilitate improved studies of Mount Cameroon,
one of Africa's largest and most active volcanoes. Professor Emmanuel
Suh, Associate Professor in the Department of Geology and Environmental
Science, said of the donation, “I am really pleased
for such wonderful news . . . My students are full of joy and
this will greatly improve the quality of their studies.”
The funding
has been channelled through the Mount Cameroon Research Foundation
(MCRF), a charity run to support research on Mount Cameroon at
Buea University. The JWCT is planning to develop closer links
with the MCRF and Buea University over the coming months. |
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Young
archer with sights set on Olympics 2012 gold receives grant
November 2007
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Jacqui Gould, a talented young
archer, was handed a cheque for £1,000 by Jeremy’s
mother Tricia during a club training session in Maidstone on 3
November 2007. Jacqui is a member of Crown Archers and has big
ambitions to compete in the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and the
London Olympics in 2012. She has already won many awards. The
grant will enable her to participate in competitions throughout
the country, which she needs to do to achieve a national ranking
in the sport. The funds will be spent on equipment, competition
entries, travel and training. We look forward to hearing more
about Jacqui’s progress.
Find out more about Jacqui’s
quest to compete at the London Olympics 2012 at
www.jacqui-gould.co.uk. Click here
for newspaper report in the Kent Messenger.
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Funds
awarded to amphibian research in Sri Lanka
June 2007
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Project
Knuckles 2007 is a scientific study to investigate and assess the
status of amphibians, reptiles and their habitats in the Knuckles
Mountain Range, Sri Lanka.
Following the success of three previous expeditions, this project
will investigate the status of amphibians with focus on relict and
endemic species. The data gained will be used to formulate conservation
strategies and Species Action Plans. The JWCT has provided £500
for the purchase of directional sound recording equipment to enhance
frog identification and allow population densities to be approximated.
The project team will consist of Alexander Fullbrook, Suraj Goonewardene,
Rebecca McKintosh and Jonathan Mutch.
The Knuckles Mountain Range displays
the highest number of different climatic and vegetation zones
in any area in the country. The vegetation type of utmost interest
to the expedition is the upper montane cloud forest, considered
the most endangered ecosystem on the island. Here a diurnal layer
of fog engulfs the forest, keeping it cool, wet and dark - quite
unlike any other location in the country.
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JWCT
awards funding to young athlete
Apr 2007
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The
Jeremy Willson Charitable Trust made its first grant to a young
athlete on Sunday 29 April 2007. Martin Brockman, a 19 year-old
athlete from Maidstone and member of Medway & Maidstone
Athletics Club was presented with a cheque for £1,000
by Jeremy’s twin brother Matthew at the Julie Rose Stadium
at Ashford during a junior athletics match at which he was officiating.
Martin
is a promising high-jumper and decathlete and is keen to improve
his performances. He has made the decision to train full-time
rather than go onto further education. The grant will contribute
towards Martin’s equipment, training and travelling expenses
to events during the next year. He has also committed himself
to assisting with the coaching of other young athletes.
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Award
of the Jeremy Willson Trophy
Apr 2007
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Barry
Royden (right, in photograph), who has dominated cross-country
running in Kent for many years and has won national honours, was
chosen as the first recipient of the Jeremy Willson Trophy. The
trophy is awarded annually to an athlete in the south-east region
for best cross country performance.
The
trophy was presented to Barry at Medway and Maidstone Athletics
Club’s AGM at Black Lion on 13 April 2007 by Jeremy’s
father Nick Willson. The impressive trophy was generously donated
by David Gambrill, who was Jeremy’s godfather. |
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Award
of grant through Royal Geographical Society
Mar 2007
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The
JWCT has reached an agreement with the Royal Geographical Society
to fund an annual award in memory of Jeremy as part of the Society’s
Geographical Fieldwork Grant programme. Jeremy’s geological
expedition to the Andes of NW Argentina in 1997/98 received support
from this programme. The Jeremy Willson Award will support a field-based
project with a distinct physical geography or geological focus.
The criteria for a qualifying project is that it will have inherent
value, be innovative, have an adventurous element, and those participating
will be undergraduates or postgraduates demonstrating a strong
spirit of ‘get-up-and-go’.
The
first RGS Jeremy Willson Award of £1,000 has been given
to a group of students from Portsmouth University who will be
carrying out field research in Dominica in the Eastern Caribbean.
They will be mapping the threats to the population posed by tsunamis,
earthquakes, volcanic activity and landslides and devising processes
by which warnings could be given by the local Red Cross and other
NGOs. |
