Kettering environment campaigner's community award is well Dez-erved

A Kettering eco-warrior who has fought to protect part of a popular wood and helped create vital PPE has been named a Rose of Northamptonshire.

Dez Dell, a member of Kettering's Green Party, is the latest recipient of the awards scheme created to thank community heroes for their work since the pandemic started.

He found out he had been nominated when a surprise email landed in his inbox and was thanked at a a virtual awards ceremony on Zoom with Paul Parsons, the High Sheriff of Northamptonshire.

In the first national lockdown he assembled 750 visors for healthcare staff and helped set up the Save Weekley Hall Wood community group, with more than 10,000 since joining a campaign against chopping part of the wood down for warehouses.

Between July and October Dez helped organise monthly litter picks, with more than 250 bags collected, and the largest event saw 75 volunteers turn out at Weekley Hall Wood.

The environment campaigner has also spoken at council meetings about the climate emergency and, as part of Northants Streets For All, lobbied the county council to use Government funding for active travel.

Dez said: "I only do what I do because I want to make a positive difference in our town.

"I’m not sure I deserve an award for that, but thank you so much for whoever nominated me!

"Everything I did as part of a team, whether it be picking up dog poo with the Green Party or opposing the warehouses as part of Save Weekley Hall Wood.

"The 750 visors I assembled were only a small number of the 10,000 visors my friend Katie Campbell organised the creation of."

Fellow Green Party member, Emily Fedorowycz, said: "I'm so proud of our very own Dez Dell who has been recognised with a Rose of Northamptonshire award from the unsung heroes of Northamptonshire initiative.

"I'm so, so proud of the work Dez does with Save Weekley Hall Wood and to have this wider recognition now too is so well deserved.

"There are so many fantastic people behind the scenes, working so hard to make a difference in this world or in other people’s lives - so to the other unsung heroes in our town, thank you for all you do too."

The Rose of Northamptonshire awards scheme was designed by Northamptonshire County Council and its leader, as well as the formal institutions of the High Sheriff's office and Lord Lieutenancy, to recognise that many across the county have committed themselves to response and relief efforts since the beginning of the outbreak.

The awards seek to highlight those in every sector and locality of the county that have played a key role.

To nominate someone, visit the page here.