Marsh Volunteer of the Year Award with Plant Heritage
These Awards recognise the hundreds of volunteers who make an enormous contribution to the charity’s work, from those organising activities across the country to digital volunteers keeping plant records safe and those who collect and pack thousands of packets of seeds to raise funds for the charity each year.
Nominations are presented to Plant Heritages’ Members and Supporters Committee to judge the volunteer Award.
John Wilkinson, June James, and Jenny Stewart 2026
John Wilkinson
John is a passionate member of Plant Heritage and has been the National Plant Collections Co-ordinator for the Lancashire area for many years. In this voluntary role, he has mentored many people through the process of becoming a National Collection holder, so they could play their part in conserving garden plants for the future, as well as keeping in touch with those who’ve had their National Collections for many years. He’s a regular at the North West group’s talks, garden visits and plant fairs, and has also built links with other conservation groups. His nominee speaks warmly of his huge knowledge and endless kindness, and his incredible work for decades.
June James
June is being recognised for her leadership of Plant Heritage’s popular Seed Shop, which gets more people growing from seed and has raised over £100,000 to support the charity so far. The idea was developed 20 years ago and June worked on it closely with her friend Janet Wright, who has since sadly passed away. The first Seed Shop was launched at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show in 2008 and you will now find it at lots of events, including the RHS Badminton Flower Show. The seed is donated by Plant Heritage members and June’s still heavily involved. She collects the seed herself and teaches others how to sort, clean, pack and label it correctly, sharing her enthusiasm as well as offering advice to the public on successful growing and encouraging them to try more unusual varieties. This year the Seed Shop is raising even more money for charity thanks to a partnership with Aldbury Products Ltd who are providing the envelopes for free.
Jenny Stewart
Jenny has been an active member of Plant Heritage for nearly 50 years, supporting her local group in Sussex in all sorts of ways – from illustrating the newsletter with beautiful pictures of plants and flowers to baking cakes for those attending the group’s regular plant conservation talks. She was one of the first people to join Plant Heritage when membership was opened up beyond those who have a National Plant Collection and remains an active member of the committee (which she used to chair). Her nominee says that she’s a regular at any event and always incredibly welcoming to everyone she meets.