Orkney Image Library

n 1970 the organisation became an independent charity, the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV) with the Duke of Edinburgh as Patron. Supported by people like Sir David Attenborough, Bill Oddie, Spike Milligan, Cliff Richard and Lulu, it expanded its activities, including a registered membership scheme for 3,000 volunteers. In 1977it set up a unique ecological park opposite the Tower of London, working with the London Queen’s Silver Jubilee Committee.

Throughout the 1980’s, BTCV embraced urban environments and community action in the UK and abroad. Midweek projects gave unemployed and retired people more opportunities to get involved. BTCV established working holidays across Europe and launched the first of two successful Million Tree Campaigns following the Great Storm of 1987. The decade closed with BTCV membership at 10,000, its Natural Break conservation holiday programme the largest of its kind in Britain.