Ian Stephens
@LawnMasterNotts
I have had a very strong love of nature and the outdoors since I was small, this is all thanks to my mum and dad, who encouraged a love of wildlife in me and my sister Maria. Jenny and myself, along with our dog, like to spend our spare time out walking when we can. This means we are outside doing something every day, thoroughly enjoying all the outdoors has to offer. It is rare for us to go out for a walk and at some stage not say, “Gosh, look at that.”
For my work, I am a lawn care professional and have been managing fine turf for 38 years, 25 of those years were spent managing golf courses and now we own and look after 2 lawn care franchises, which operate across Nottinghamshire and Lincoln areas.
I believe I am fairly unique in the lawn care world, as I try and encourage customers to adopt wildlife-friendly approaches where possible. I often find different orchids growing in our customer’s lawns and I will try asking them to just leave them to grow and then mow around them.
My love of nature and the enjoyment we can get from it will never leave me, so after reading this book I hope it has ignited a spark for you too.
Thank you so much for purchasing this book, and I hope you have found it an enjoyable read, and please remember that every penny of profit raised from sales of this book will go to helping two local and very well deserving charities.
Back in November 2021, my friend, Tasha Leigh-Willetts, asked me if I would like to take up a 'Daily Nature Photo Challenge'. Initially, I said, “Not a chance,” to the challenge, but I thought about it again and decided to give it a go at the end of #30DaysWild, an initiative run by The Wildlife Trust, in June 2022, as a continued way of showing my support for their work.
So this challenge was started on 1st July 2022. Every single photo was taken on the day it is listed in the book. They were all taken on my mobile phone, with no post-editing work at all, except they are all presented in a square format. I chose to just use my phone to show that the challenge is achievable for anyone wanting to do something similar themselves, with only limited resources.
So grab a cuppa, have a sit down and follow me as I guide you through 12 months of my life.
Every day there are things to be seen, you just need to be out there looking for them!
This is definitely your feel-good book of the year!
All profits from the sale of books to be donated to Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and Bassetlaw Hospice.
All proceeds to charity
£178.14 raised
for each charity
so far