Child’s plea for penguins will follow in the footsteps of Captain Scott
A letter written by six-year old Joe Hill of Alresford, Hampshire is on its way to Antarctica as part of a Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust competition to inspire future generations to get close to nature and protect our environment.
The competition celebrates the centenary of Captain Scott’s expedition to the South Pole and WWT’s link with that expedition. Knowing he was about to die, Scott wrote a letter to his wife which urged her to get their young son interested in nature. That son grew up to become Sir Peter Scott, who founded WWT so that future generations could have fun getting close to nature. 100 years later, the competition aims to repeat that inspiration through the simple act of writing a letter.
Joe was one of more than 600 people who wrote in. He wrote to his Uncle Jason and Aunty Nat asking them to teach him how to help the environment so he save the ozone layer to prevent penguins becoming extinct. His letter was picked to be one of the top 100 by a panel of celebrity judges including Gordon Buchanan, Miranda Krestovnikoff, Kate Humble, Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan, Bill Oddie and David Lindo.
Kate Humble is taking the top 100 letters, including Joe’s, to Antarctica where she will post them to their recipients from the most southerly post office in the world. Each letter will include an Antarctica post stamp and include a covering letter personally signed by Captain Scott’s grandson, Falcon. The letters are expected to arrive at their destinations later this spring.
Scott 100 Letters competition judge and TV broadcaster Gordon Buchanan said:
“We have to inspire our youngsters to get close to nature, not just for their own benefit but also so that they will protect our environment in the future.
“All the judges found it was really difficult, but also a real privilege, to pick the winners from more than 600 inspiring entries.
“It’s mindboggling how Captain Scott’s letter, written thousands of miles away and a hundred years ago, has resulted all these years later in WWT saving endangered bird species around the world and running wetland visitor centres around the UK which get children close to nature. Just imagine what these letters might accomplish a hundred years from now?"
Alongside the competition, WWT’s Inspiring Generations Appeal has raised more than £60,000 to enable disadvantaged schoolchildren to visit their centres and get close to nature, as its founder Sir Peter Scott intended. For more details, interested schools should contact Claire Drew Learning Manager at WWT Arundel on 01903 881524.
Here is six year old Joe Hill’s letter to his Aunt and Uncle in full:
Dear: Uncle Jason and Aunty Nat
I am writing to you because:
I know you love to help the environment and Nature, and maybe able to help inspire me.
In 2013 would you do one thing for me:
I would love to get together with you to find out what you know about helping the environment, as I would love to make a solar powered car, to stop pollution going into the air and destroying the ozone and melting the icebergs and stopping the penguins having any where to live.
This is important because:
I don’t want the environment to be dirty and the penguins to become extinct, as I love penguins and I know you love nature to.
From: Joe Hill
Age: 6
