U4 Pupil, Oscar Lawrence has been nominated as a Springwatch Wildlife Hero and has impressively made it into the final.



Springwatch Wildlife Hero Awards 2024 have described this award as the following;

“On Springwatch 2024 we want to recognise the inspirational people who have dedicated their lives to helping our wildlife - doing it quietly, with no fanfare, no public appreciation. We want to celebrate the amazing role they play in the fight to look after and conserve our wildlife and protect it for the future.”

Below, Oscar Lawrence answers some questions on his work and how it feels to have been nominated for this inspiring award.

1) When did your passion for wildlife begin?

My passion for wildlife began in the lockdown of April 2020 when we were all allocated just a 30 minute walk each day. This made going out into nature all the more special, and I started to enjoy seeing the common birds around my village.

Sensing my growing interest, my dad bought me an iSpy book of garden birds and I began to tick them off as I walked. Soon the book was full to the brim and I was an ‘official birder’!

2) Can you tell us a little about the work that you do in wildlife?

With all of this growing knowledge, I thought it only fair to teach others about what I’d found. And just like that, I applied to write for my village magazine - The Forncett Flyer, soon acquiring a monthly column. This work was part of my Community Service project for Lower School when I was in Upper 3.

But I knew this was not enough; my next target was to write for Norfolk Wildlife Trust. This was a trickier organisation to apply for but I managed it and for over a year have maintained an almost monthly blog on their website which is shared via social media too.

3) How does it feel to be shortlisted for this award?

It was a real privilege to find out I was a finalist and it has inspired me to continue with my writing and to aspire to even higher achievements.

4) How did the process of getting nominated for this award go about? Was there anything you had to do?

I was delighted to be nominated by my geographer friend Tilly. She enjoys Springwatch too and soon heard about the nominations so she wrote about what I do. I didn’t know until around Easter when we were emailed with the good news. We had to make and provide some footage of me talking about what I do - but I wasn’t expecting it all to be shown on the programme.

5) What has been your favourite thing about writing for the Norfolk Wildlife Trust? And what has been your favourite piece you’ve written?

That’s a tricky question! I suppose it would be hearing the feedback from people who’ve read my articles and how much they’ve enjoyed them and how much they’ve learnt from them. I am pleased to hear that it does make a difference.

My favourite piece to write was the one on World Swallowtail Day where I was tasked with venturing out into The Broads to find these rare butterflies.

6) What are your future hopes/aspirations?

My dream career would be to travel the world in search of the planet’s most beautiful and rare wildlife, then write theses about what I’ve found to help conservation.

7) Any interesting facts you would like to share?

It is surprising to find that we have such rare wildlife living right on our doorstep at the cathedral. The famous Norwich peregrines are the world’s fastest animal and remain an icon of our city.

But also the much smaller urban specialist, the Black Redstart, is a regular migrant to the cloisters each autumn. So when you next take a stroll through the city, keep both eyes wide for our amazing bird life.

If you would like to read some of Oscar's work please click here!