Young Rhyl award winner grows hope for local nature

An award winning young passionate supporter of nature is giving a helping hand to growing a stronger future for Denbighshire’s plants and trees.

Ellie Hughes, of Rhyl, is one of a growing band of people joining a community of volunteers at the Council’s local provenance tree nursery at St Asaph.

Driven by a passion for all things nature, Ellie can be easily spotted at nature reserves across the north of the county, rolling up her sleeves to help countryside rangers with seasonal nature tasks.

And with her love of the outdoors taking her to the tree nursery community, Ellie was also recently honoured by receiving the Bionet, the Nature Partnership for North East Wales Young Person award for 2025 for her dedication to helping her local nature.

County Voice caught up with Ellie whilst she was volunteering at the tree nursery to find out a little bit about her award-winning drive to support nature on her doorstep.

Ellie who studied at Coleg Cambria Northop and Coleg Llysfasi, joined the tree nursery community of volunteers in March last year and has become a regular each week, fitting it in alongside volunteering through Nature for Health to also help out on Denbighshire Countryside Service sites.

Remembering how she first came to find the nursery, Ellie said: “It was close by, and I was in college at the time and Wednesdays were my day off, my dad said why don’t you go there to volunteer.”

The tree nursery which grows local provenance trees and wildflowers from seed collected across the county provides a chance to develop new skills and learn more about nature due to it being situated on the Green Gates nature reserve which covers 70 acres of land.

Ellie explained: “I enjoy being outside helping nature and the healthy side of being outside.  I like meeting the other volunteers and helping out here as it is a nature reserve and working in the poly tunnels and been with the trees all the time. “I’ve seen a robin come into the tunnels; I saw a grey squirrel the other day as well outside.”

Thanks to the support of staff on site and volunteer community, Ellie admits that coming to the tree nursery has also helped her learn and develop new skills.

She said: “I’ve learned many, I learnt how to sow seeds, to make things to help with the growing…. the tree planting out in the fields, I think I helped plant about a thousand. I get to know people, know what they do, what they do as a job, it’s quite cool. I get to learn from their own skills as well when they help me.

And what’s her words to anyone who maybe be interested in having a go at learning down at the tree nursery?

She added: “I’d say go for it; it’s a great opportunity learn great skills to maybe get a future job in work like this. The staff are both very nice, they are great to talk to, show me new skills and they help me understand more about what they do here.”

Sam Brown Tree Nursery Assistant said: “Ellie is such a joy to have down here and she amazes us each week with her commitment to helping out, learning new skills and developing her knowledge on our local nature in Denbighshire.

“She’s a big part of the fantastic community of volunteers we have at the tree nursery, and we are so proud of her for winning the Bionet Young Persons award as her passion for helping the project and what we have outdoors is just inspirational.”

If you would like to volunteer at the tree nursery please email with your details biodiversity@denbighshire.gov.uk