Plant Heritage announces Brother Bursary winners for 2014
Brother Logo BLUEpc 300dpiPlant Heritage is delighted to announce that 9 National Plant Collection Holders have been awarded bursaries this year.
The Bursary given by Brother UK, provides financial awards and plant labelling machines towards projects to help develop National Collections, and is judged by a panel of horticultural experts. The bursary is invaluable in helping National Collection Holders further their important conservation work. Without the work of the National Collection Holders many cultivars could be lost.
Speaking on the news of his award of £800 towards a new Herbarium cabinet, John Vanderplank who holds a National Collection of Passiflora (passion flowers) in Somerset said he was absolutely delighted with the Brother Bursary. ‘It’s wonderful news, I’m really pleased as it’s going to create a permanent record of Passiflora cultivars and a valuable additional reference collection of Passiflora species for the future.’
Brother Bursary recipient, John Vanderplank The cabinet which will hold over 1,000 herbarium sheets of Passiflora will help record new species and enable John to work in conjunction with Jane Lindsay, another collection holder of Passiflora in Somerset. By studying these type specimens it will be possible to identify lost cultivars in the future.
Commenting on its decision the judging panel said the project demonstrated the core aims of the charity, enhancing knowledge and making it available for the future. Now in its sixth year, around 54 Collection Holders have benefitted from the Brother Bursary – a total sponsorship figure of £12,000 which has been generously supported by Brother UK Ltd.
Speaking on the announcement Head of Category Identification at Brother UK, Mike Kelly said, “Making funds available to support the efforts of Collection Holders is very rewarding. This ensures that money is spent on core projects, and not just on promoting Brother labelling products.”
Plant Heritage Plant Conservation Officer, Mercy Morris said she was delighted by the variety of entries: “I am really pleased to see some fantastic conservation work receiving financial support thanks to Brother UK.”