Really appreciate the presentations, we're gonna do a little A round table at the end, I think we've got Lindsey on and we've got Laura on, and I think Anna may still be on as well. So it's a chance to ask any questions, but Lindsay is, is a big guru to me anyway of veterinary sustainability cos she not only talks about it, she does it, and you know, we're very much into action here. An's the same with the fantastic work.

She's doing, and Laura also hopefully is gonna pop up in a minute. Laura and Lindsay are both winners of our green awards, and we're super thrilled that you've both agreed to come on. I think, because time passes so quickly, but I think you both won last year, am I right?

Yes, we were joint winners of the vet Personality of the Year, so we're very lucky. I hope Laura can join us. I think you also won practises of the year as well, didn't you?

Yes. Yeah, main vets. Yeah, we won the green practise.

And I think, Laura Paragon Vets won the, the large veterinary practise main, the, the small. You were both. Do you know, I always find the first year we ran the awards, and we had super individuals, and I was judging the awards.

I don't do that anymore cause I don't want to, you know. Say I'm currying favour or whatever. So we have an independent judges, but the first year it was myself and two other women, well two women and myself.

And you know, I was saying there has to be a winner. And actually the women quite rightly said, collaboration, Anthony, we can let them both win. And so we shared the awards, which made it just really powerful cos of course, you know, as I said earlier, collaboration in this field is.

So essential, Anna's seen it, you know, all those agencies that you brought together. To work there, you know, even within conservation agencies, there can be a bit of competition and envy and stuff, but actually, We have to get beyond that now, don't we, we, we, these are big problems that we have. We solve them quicker if we do them together than all trying to reinvent the wheel.

So first of all, thank you so much for all coming, you're all inspirational figures to me, I suppose . Maybe just a few thoughts on, on anything that's touched you today, er, starting with Lindsay first. Oh, thank you.

Yeah, it's been a really good day and some really nice varied, vary talks, but certainly the Eagles. I mean, I'm a keen birdwatcher as well, and that, that was amazing, wasn't it? I don't want to pick out one in particular because I think everyone's been great, but yeah, the Eagles were, were something pretty special.

I think we need a tour, don't we? Anna needs to organise it where we can all come up because, you know, I similarly am a big bird watcher. I have never seen a golden eagle in in the wild, and when I see buzzards, I, you know, I love all birds and animals, but buzzards always fill my heart when I hear them singing as they're flying over us, because we, we get them around here, but yeah, I need, I've seen bald eagles, but I need to see a golden eagle and a white tailed eagle, so I know it's .

I, you haven't got a lot to do in your working life, so that's another thing for you to organise. No, but you're right, I mean, there's just something, you know, it's such a, such a thrill, you know, there's something so magnificent about seeing an eagle in, you know, in its natural habitat. And yeah, I mean, you know, it is easy to see them now in southern Scotland if you know where to go, you know, it's, it's, it's just fantastic in such a short time.

I mean, the project, you know, the the the work that Cat and John and that team have done is just, just phenomenal. And it just shows what can be done with that sort of, you know, expertise. And as you said at the beginning, you know, conservation is a team sport, you know, we, we, it really is all these projects.

I think what's come through for me today is, is, it's, you know, interdisciplinary. It's, it's, it's everybody working together and bringing their skills. And as I mentioned, you know, that's important, but everybody else.

You know, we need all those stakeholders engaged from the, you know, from, from land to to science to, you know, the behaviour or the human aspect, the public engagement, because, you know, actually my my Take away from working on these types of projects is is the public really want this generally, you know, yeah, they really want this. It's it's very inspirational when you're actually working there, but it takes a lot of work and effort. When, you know, we, we, my wife and I talk and, you know, the question comes up, if you were to come back again, believe in reincarnation, what would you come back as?

I always say a golden eagle and she says, of course you do, cos you're a big show off. But they, they have a presence, don't they? They're magnificent birds.

Yeah. And just, yeah, I mean, it's just such a privilege, even just to touch one or be close to them is is amazing and I never forget that. Yeah, yeah.

I think the, the 0.1 of the things obviously we also try and bring through on, on the veterinary green discussion forum and the other things we do is sometimes farmers and conservationists seem to see each other as the enemy. So the more we can bring them together and you know, there's been some fantastic up at Cut Acre where we've been helping with rewilding some of the exhausted livery up there.

You know, environmental sort of nature reserves with conservation, grazing going on, bringing the farm animals in. You know, we talk about rewilding, but there's everything rewilding right up to regenerative agriculture, it's a whole spectrum. And we do need to get environmentalists and farmers learning to love each other as well.

I know we're starting to see that, but that just needs to happen more and more, doesn't it? Yeah, and again, I think, you know, vets have got such a key role to play there because we do have that broad expertise and knowledge and, you know, influence, as trusted, you know, trusted influences across, you know, and the farming industry, etc. Wildlife, you know, I think we we can we can input in so many ways.

And, you know, everything we do, you know, we can influence. We can act as a bridge between some of these groups, can't we? And Laura, what were your sort of key takeaways, what did you like during the day?

Yeah, I, I, I really enjoyed it all actually, I particularly liked the, the, hearing about the pond, er, and I think, gosh, what an amazing upbringing those boys had, but you know, to still be so involved in, in sustainability and conservation, you know, in their, in their sort of adult life, I think what, what it obviously had a big impact on them. And I would just, I, I love doing that sort of thing with my kids. I mean, obviously not on such a scale.

But, you know, I, I, I really do believe that these things stay with you. You know, if you, if you experience something when you're young and, and you get really involved and, and, and you start to really care about these things, you don't lose that. It just continues on into, into adult life.

So, yeah, really, really brilliant to hear that and to see those, the, the images that that they were showing it's just amazing. You know, again, an inspirational figure for me that you are, tell us a little bit, because not everybody knows, I know I know a little bit about it. I am gonna come up and see you and have a look at this woodland that you've created, which is, It's, is it, it's a little bit away from the practise isn't it?

But again, you know, obviously you've had the practise and Excel vets have looked at what you're doing and said, actually we need a bit more of this, so putting it across that whole Excel vet group now as sustainability officer, 1st, 1st of all, the Woodland, cos I always like that, just that sort of tangible thing that you're doing, but then a little bit about what you're doing as your as your role develops with Excel vets. Yeah, absolutely, yeah, I'm happy, happy to share this. So, last spring we planted, we planted, 3 hectares of woodland at one of our sites.

So we've got two main sites at Paragon, and one is in Dalson and and one is at Newigin near Penrith in Cumbria. And we had all this, this land that we, we were making hay on, but it wasn't particularly good quality and, and we thought, you know, we, we could do we could do better with this land. So we, .

Applied for a grant, through the, Forestry Commission, and we were very lucky to get that. And we, so we planted all of these trees and the idea really there is that we want to improve the biodiversity, provide, wildlife habitats. We wanted to engage with the, with the locals, so we've, we've opened it up for permissive access so people can walk around.

It's a, it's a nice woodland walk. We, we've linked it up with existing hedgerows, so. That we do have those sort of wildlife corridors.

It's a really nice site, and our staff can use it, the, the staff that work at New Bin, they can use it for, you know, lunchtime breaks and things like that, which we know is really great for your, for your mental health. And, yeah, it was just a really great project to do. At the moment we're designing the, the sort of the interpretation boards that will be at the front, sort of the beginning and the end of the walk for, for, for, for walkers and people that want to explore it.

And we've set, one of the local schools, we've set them a biodiversity drawing competition so that the winner of the competition will then have their picture on this interpretation board. And I just, I love that sort of engaging with the locals, engaging with the community, particularly with kids because, you know, it's their future, and if we can get them excited about it and involved, then, you know, everybody's gonna win this. So yeah, that that that's the, that's the ethos behind it.

. So yeah, my job for Excel vets to cut across you just for a second, and you know, it's, it's so important to think as, as vets, we are seen as leaders in the community, we're very, you know, I know your practise is very rural practise, small and large animal. That sort of work that you're doing, you don't have to talk about it, but people notice, you know, farmers who perhaps think, hm, maybe I could put solar panels on the roof, maybe I could have, you know, little areas set aside on the fields. We know that we can lose 8% of our productive land to turn it into, you know, wildflower spots, increase biodiversity, that helps with pollination.

So all these things make sense and actually the vets are in a great place to educate and inspire, aren't they? Yeah, we are, we are. And, and, you know, we, we, we act as advocates for this sort of, for this sort of behaviour, and, you know, we talk about it and people trust us.

You know, we, we are, we are a trusted profession and I, and I, and, you know, I'm, I'm really keen that, you know, that the more we talk about it, the more people will follow suit and, and, and, and sort of follow our example. So yeah, that's, that's brilliant. No, sorry, I cut across you.

Tell us a little bit about the role at Excel Vets now. It's OK, so I've been doing it for about a year. We we've been Parigon's been members of the XL vet group for since it began, for for over 20 years.

But we, as a sort of individual, I, I, give them one day a week where I work as their sort of sustainability. They call me the sustainability coordinator, which is a brilliant title because I'm sort of sitting. With, with the experience that I have from Paragon and and everything we have achieved in in the last 4 years, I'm able to share that with the rest of the sort of 65 member practises, all of which are independent, so they, they want to do their own thing.

They want to, you know, improve their the the sort of the biodiversity around their sites. They want to reduce their carbon footprints, their sort of their general impact on the on the the climate crisis. So there there certainly is an appetite for it.

But I think it is quite daunting, you know, if you haven't done anything so far, crikey, where do I start? This is big. So having me and available for for those sorts of discussions is is really helpful.

And you know, we we're seeing a lot more engagement from the members and sort of I'm I'm quite busy on those days that I work for them, and where I'm trying to, you know, just just help people, you know, bounce ideas around and and everything. So it's it's really, it's growing, it's brilliant. Those are and you know, looking at the.

You know, the education role, obviously we're talking about educating young people, educating farmers, educating pet owners, but you, you've got the next generation of vets coming through, and I know Keel's doing things in quite different ways. I was, I was fortunate enough to be able to go and see garden vets, which is obviously the, the centre based next door to the new building, which looks amazing. You've got a wind turbine on the estate.

I think I'm right in saying that Keele's been named the most sustainable university in the country. Obviously, Keel, Harper Keel supported the Veterinary Greens discussion forum last time, with, Joshua and a couple of students as well. How, how do we, I is that a, do you think that's a passion project for vet students?

Is it something that they're starting to think about? Are they coming to Keel because of its sustainability, facilities and its reputation? What, what do you think is happening at the, the level of students?

Do you think that they are understanding this whole area of one health and sustainability? Absolutely. And and the whole curriculum at the new Harper vet school was was built with with one health absolutely embedded in everything, which, which, which is what I love.

I've only been here a year and I would emphasise that I don't, I'm not the head of the vet school. I'm I'm the head head of the faculty. It's Matt Jones who's head of the vet school, so I wasn't, directly involved with designing that curriculum, but obviously really passionate about it and support that school and my faculty.

Yes, and one of the things that attracted me to Keel was its sustainability ethos. So it's not just in the vet school, it's across the whole, the whole campus and all and all our activities. So we generate 50% of our electricity that we use on campus.

Keel is like a little village and it's actually used as a sort of demonstrator for how renewable energy energy can be used in a really efficient way. And we have this thing called the send it's the sustainable Energy Network demonstrator and actually really exciting we just this last week, we've actually now got a hydrogen. Electrolyzer on campus.

So we are actually making our own hydrogen now. We just, we're just about to get our first hydrogen car and hydrogen forklift truck. So, so it's just that whole, you know, embedding it in in everything you do from from education, you know, across, you know, not just the veterinary profession, the veterinary curriculum, but all the other things as well.

And the other. Was we we run in all our programmes across the university, what we call the global challenge pathways. So, embedding the sort of awareness of the world's sustainability, you know, the SDGs sustainability development goals, across across everything we do in terms of vets, absolutely the the the vet students of the future are really passionate about this.

They really care. And I think all the things we've been saying already about how as a profession, we can, we can influence, we can use that and whether whether we go into small animal practise or, you know, get get postgraduate training and going to be a wildlife vet. I think having that.

Sustainability and one health ethos, you know, it cuts across everything really, it's just integral, and I, I can't see how how a profession can develop without it really. Or even even livestock as well. Lindsay.

Sorry, Anthony, I was gonna say when you say like embedding it in everything you do, it's so important, isn't it? And I think with our, with with all of our sustainability achievements, it is drawing people in, like you say. The new grads and everyone just got it on their minds now, haven't they?

And definitely from what we're doing, it's drawing new people in that want to join the practise because they're seeing us do it. So I think, you know, those that aren't doing things are now going to start falling behind a little bit. But yeah, the idea of embedding it in everything we do is so important, isn't it?

As Laura's talking, I'm like frantically writing bits down thinking, oh yeah, I always get ideas, we always get ideas from each other. So yeah, anything that you can take away is always helpful, isn't it? I love the fact you two are obviously now talking a bit where you didn't probably know each other, I presume before the green discussion forum, and this is one of the things I was saying about the event, you know, the.

The actual presentations are, you know, important, but not so important cos it's the discussion and it's the networking opportunities and things going on that I don't even know about. I mean, I'm still planning also, I'm gonna be very busy this year cos Lindsay's based in Essex area, aren't you? And you have lots of nightingales in your local area, don't you as well, and obviously some of the things you're doing with the Essex Wildlife Trust to encourage them.

Back as well, so, and of course your role, yeah, as a veterinary nurse is. It often the doers, you know, because obviously vets are busy and they're doing all these fixing animals and then you're there, you know, caring for the animals, but often, you know, practise managers as well are involved in that side, and I know how much Keith and Charlotte just love you who the owners of the practise because of the amazing work that you're doing. I, I think you've, you've kind of enthused them.

I think it, it began as your kind of passion hobby, and I think you've pulled everybody along in the practise now, haven't you? Oh yeah, I definitely am that person. It's like, oh, what would Lindsay do?

Or, oh, Lindsay's gonna nag us about this packet in the bin or if they're in the wrong bin, that's the thing, because my wife is a teacher, she has all the recycling bins and she goes, why are they putting that in those bins? It's not difficult. Yeah, I think they credit to Keith and, yeah, I'm a nagger, but credit to Keith and Charlotte because they with vet dynamics actually they've worked quite closely and I think that framework for the open discussion within the veterinary practise is so important and they've done so well at just getting these regular meetings going every week so we can all communicate about things.

I can present, not nag to them and get the team on board and. But that, you know, that collaborative thinking, I've not done all this myself. I definitely won't take all the credit, and the rest of the team and the, you know, the rest of the green team within our little practise work equally as hard as I do, but just getting that, you know, being able to talk about it, which is exactly what, you know, you're doing here today, isn't it?

Just spreading that word. You know, it's interesting because I think we're still at early stages because obviously, you know, we had a few 100 here today, but you know it's a big profession. And more people, you know, I think about 6 or 700 have registered, so I think more will see it and obviously more will, will come across it on the website, it's on the platform.

But, you've both won the awards. I think a bit like Street Fest, I'm not sure we're going to let you win it again, Lindsey and Laura, but I know Laura was on at me about 3 or 4 months ago saying, come on, when are they coming out? And I said, well, we're pushing them back to the veterinary green discussion forum, cos we'll hopefully sort of.

Involve them in in people coming to that. Obviously Laurie, you've got, you know, 7000 practises, whatever the number was, this year talking very much around that circular economy, I know, I think it was you, Lindsay, I was at the Investors in the Environment Awards and I think you were in for one of the awards, and I think it might have been more around that secularity thing. You know, again, looking at universities, looking at vet practises, looking at these bigger groups, Excel vets.

You know, it was interesting to hear Royal Cannons, mention that obviously from a sustainability perspective, where the ingredients come from is so important. But I also think, you know, those pouches, those, my cat's just been in, he's had a little nose, he's gone out again, but it, you know, he now has the pouches and it's really difficult to get those recycled pets at home do them. But, you know, aluminium was great when we were doing that, and, and I do think the whole circularity of if you.

Produce something you should be responsible for getting rid of it at the end. Where do we become more circular as as businesses, as, as universities, as practises, as you know, cooperative groups? How, how can we improve on that?

I'm gonna start with Lindsay. Cos you and I are doing some fantastic work on the whole kind of, I'm gonna say recycling because that's what everybody understands, but it's obviously much, much bigger than that. Yeah, yeah, it can certainly be, recycling, but I think, you know, like you say, being responsible for your waste as a company is massive, and I think that's one part that veterinary practises can all just jump on, really, because that's the first step, isn't it?

What are you actually throwing away in the first place? What can be recycled? What can you reuse, you know, we've all heard, you know, the pyramid, but I think, I think we've done things like now.

We're lucky enough to have like a blister pack recycling so we can get owners to bring in their blister packs for recycling, so you're taking that little bit of responsibility that we will take back some of our rubbish. I've always wanted to do a little, you know, the dispensing pot, like a deposit scheme where they could bring the Sensing pots back and we could refill it, but that's definitely an idea for the future because it's a tricky one to put in place. Yeah, so the circularity with regards to recycling is a no brainer, isn't it?

We can look at what we're using every day and can, can it be reused? How can we reduce how much is coming into the practise? It's, it's easy.

It it can be easy. I, I mean, I sound like, yeah, I've got all the answers, but it's just one place we need to start in. And actually Laura, when we were together at the Greens discussion for, forum, she mentioned this, recycling of isofluorine, which is coming in and it's, and I think I've never heard of it before, so it's really exciting.

I don't want to mention the company because I think I'm not sure if I'm allowed to, but they're coming in. Neil hopefully will be at the veterinary green discussion forum because you know, at the moment they can store it, but they actually know how to reuse it again, which is even better, but they've got to get the permission of the. That's it, yeah, so it's basically, isofluorine being collected into canisters and then the, the isofluorine then being drawn out to be able to be reused again.

So it's obviously quite a difficult process, isn't it? But, yeah, that's really exciting. That circularity is so important because isofluorine is the greenhouse gas at the end of the day, and I think, I feel like we use it willy-nilly, but that is one place where we can really.

Make a difference I say thanks to Laura for the for the suggestion. Go on Laura, over to you. Count of all knowledge.

Well, I don't know about that. I think, yeah, I think Lindsay touched on it there. Can you, can you reuse an item before it goes into the recycling?

We, we, we're big, big fans of reusable things, so instead of you know, using lots of incontinence pads for sort of lining kennels and things, we would use reusable ones, . The sort of instrument tins that you can use rather than a plastic pouch and we have a water philtre so that we're not buying in a lot of purified water. So it's just little changes like that.

I mean that do, you know, there is a cost involved in the initial sort of purchasing and setting up, but. But over its lifetime, it, it should become cheaper and you are then being more responsible for your, for your business waste and you are putting less out there. So you are sort of completing that that loop of circularity, which, I think, you know, it's, it's simple once you get your head round it, but I think the more we talk about it and the more we ask our suppliers and you know, we're looking at .

Where, you know, all all the things that we're buying in and who we're buying it from. If we keep asking that question, then they are going to have to give us answers that that make us happy, otherwise we'll we'll vote with our feet, won't we? And we'll buy, we'll buy some, we'll go somewhere else and buy buy the product somewhere else.

So, I think we have a a a. A duty, but I think, you know, as as consumers as purchasers, then, you know, I think we should be asking these questions of the the big the big wholesalers, the big, the big guys, the pharmaceutical companies. Laura, waste in a sense is only somebody's limited view on things because it is a resource as well, and I think if we do this right, as you've said, with your plastic bottles and your philtre.

Actually, a lot of this stuff saves money, but it needs just a little bit of thought, so rethink is part of the circularity hierarchy as well, as well as refuse, you know, sometimes we can just say actually this is so over the top packaged. I'm giving you all of that stuff back, which I have occasionally done in shops, which I think er surprises people, but there we go. Anna, you know, obviously university, what's going on at that bigger picture, obviously your associate .

Dean for the whole big department and again a very sustainable university work and work and, Businesses generally, but particularly vets do more on that whole circular journey. Well, I think it, it's, it cuts across everything from the from the design of your buildings, you know, and that was certainly integral when when I I I wasn't here, but I know about the design of the new vet school here right from the word go, you know, sustainability again, it's this sort of embedding, normalising it and making it as easy as possible so that people find it easy. Easy and the natural thing to do rather than something that's a sort of add on or or an effort.

And it comes from everything from the catering we bought, you know, the food we buy, you know, the catering. So, so across the university here, just as an example, you know, it's our energy provision. It's, it's working with the local bus companies to talk about, you know, they were talking about I getting a hydrogen powered bus coming up from the town up to kill.

It's it's everything. So it's your transport, it's it. It can cut across anything.

So I think we just need to think about the the the whole sort of the whole system. Obviously, you know, the the materials and the products we use and the anaesthetic gases, that's really important and the suppliers, but it's only part of the whole big, big picture. So again, it's it's I would use that word sort of embedding that that ethos of sustainability and everything.

And as you said, Laura, you know, asking the questions and making it. You know, because, you know, consumer demand is really powerful. And and if we ask for that, from our suppliers, we're going to get it.

You know, there are procurement processes, certainly at the university, that's one of the things we always ask. And then it goes even as far as the the ethical investments we make, you know, with with finances. So it it really cuts across everything to me.

No, that's really interesting. I'm, I've just had a little nose at the, that the delegates participants still on, and mass is still on, so it's Sage tech. I'm happy to, to share the name.

So he is, he is on sort of, we, we luckily we didn't say anything defamatory, so we're OK, we're OK. Paul's just saying there's a little comment in the questions here, ripple effect and Excel vet's collaborated. To deliver some great workshops together in 3 countries where we work in Africa a few years ago, so that sort of social outreach that Excel vets are doing is, is fabulous as well, so, thank you for all of that as well, Laura and Anna, you know, I think, You, you're quite right, I love the whole kind of circular economy concept because it is so holistic, cos some people think it is just reduced reuser cycle, but actually creating a building that is energy efficient in the first place is, is the best way to start, isn't it?

Absolutely. And then it's all the add-ons you can do, you know, green roofs and supporting biodiversity and the design of the building and all that sort of stuff. And then of course, it's, you know, the veterinary practise, obviously that knowledge and embedding the one health concept throughout.

And then that that rolls out to, you know, responsible prescribing and, you know, minimising use of pesticides and and all, you know, spot on, been very topical recently. I know you you talked about all these things and other other webinars, but, but, but yes, it's just having that that . That that mindset, you know, making sure that the vet's the future, you know, are graduating with that mindset of thinking about it in in in all its aspects is is key.

Yeah, I like I like that one there, Anna, all spot ons are very topical. Yeah, you're right, you're right. It was really interesting actually I was at an event around this whole area just before Christmas and it was interesting that actually there there seems to be a, a movement from topicals into, into orals that we, we know that we don't know all the issues with everything, but it seems like the profession is sort of semi-consciously sort of recognised and maybe even .

You know, the, the consumer, the clients, but also sometimes ease of use, you know, it's a chewy tablet that you can give the dog and it's sorted. So, yeah, it's certainly a hot topic that that Sustain and ourselves brought up a few years ago that is we're at least moving and I think in the right direction with that now, aren't we? And just maybe a final little comment from all of you about, about the awards, you know, how useful maybe it's been for you cos I know there's been a bit of PR come out of it.

I know, Siva did some great work. And, and, and how much they thoroughly enjoyed going out to both your practises and seeing the fabulous work that you were, you were all doing. We'd love more people to get involved in this year.

Obviously we've got people on on the line now and obviously more people will listen to the recording. So, you know, why should people perhaps think about doing the awards? Everybody's so busy.

Is it just one of those extra things which, you know, oh, you know, I can't be bothered doing. Why, why should they get involved? Go to you Laura first, and then Lindsey, and then Anna, any thoughts on the, on the end, obviously not having been involved in the awards, but maybe you can judge them this year actually, that would be good.

I think, it's a, it's a great opportunity, for, for any practise or any vet to, or, or it doesn't have to be a vet vet personality, who, who, that you can showcase what you do, and it's a great opportunity to put that in writing and draw together if, you know, resources, photos, any videos, any sort of examples of what you've been doing. And then it's a really neat little package that you can go back to, you can share with your, with your clients, with your staff. With anybody that's anybody that has any sort of, you know, involvement in your, in your company.

And, and, and you know, you you do you see obviously did those great videos which we've used on our social media. We we have a, you know, telly in the waiting room, which we, we display them on and lots of people come into the consult room and say, just seen that great video. Tell me a bit more about it.

And before that we didn't really have any kind of like big wow. This is amazing, to show people. So it's, it's really professionally done.

It, it's, it's short enough for people to kind of get the gist of what we're doing, but long enough to, to get all the great stuff that we're doing in there. And, and, yeah, so I think if anybody's sort of thinking, Oh, well, should I, shouldn't I? I just, my, my advice would be just go for it.

Put, throw your hat in the ring, have a go, and, and, and, you know, and just, just get involved because you'll, you, you'll find more and more things that you can write about that will really Really impress the judges, and even if, even if you don't think it's particularly amazing, put it in there anyway and, and, you know, throw it, throw your hat in the ring and, and, and give it, give it a go definitely. Laura, does, does it, my memory serve me right in that you've got a mention in your local newspaper as well after winning the awards? Oh yeah, yes, yeah, yeah, we've we've had our, our, papers, is, is, yeah, they, they cover a lot of our sustainability stories, so it's a bit of a theme that that kind of runs through, but yeah, we, we, we get, we get mentions a lot about it.

Laura, that's fantastic, and Lindsey, what about you? How is One, it helped you, do you, do you think, do you think clients are looking for practises that are greener and therefore going to perhaps as opposed to another practise? Yeah, more and more, definitely, and I think, having won the award and then being able to shout about it more, so now we've like updated the website, it's just encouraging others as well, because I think.

It was so nice that Laura and I won together because she's obviously very much a bigger practise and we're just a tiny little practise in ethics and to get that recognition that we are trying to change and then there's that ripple effect, so it spreads to other people and you know, little small, small practise doesn't matter how big you are, does it, because every little step, every little step helps and I think having that recognised was really, really nice. And I've seen like Laura, if anyone is in any doubt whether to enter or not, just go for it. You know, even if you get runner up or you're nominated, it's just nice to feel like you're in the game, isn't it?

You're doing something, you get recognised and you can just feel proud. You're making a difference, yeah, no matter how big or small, so. I love that idea of you being having a ripple effect.

It'd be a good name for a charity, wouldn't it? That, I mean, are we really, I need, I need to work on that, hey, that's taken already. Right, we need to have the idea.

Just pretend you haven't been on this presentation. Yeah, exactly, I use it I use it. And Anna, just obviously I know you're not as aware of it, but do you think that these sort of awards will, will help to raise profile to their own clients, but also to the profession as a whole and where do you think we are as a profession, you know, are we, you can see that there's some really good stuff going on.

My problem sometimes is also there is good work that. With all the threat of greenwashing, people just don't want to talk about it, which I have the officer's impression and and belief that, you know, we have an obligation to tell good news stories, because let's face it, you're gonna watch the 6 o'clock news in half an hour, you'll probably be depressed by it, whereas hopefully today has been something that may maybe just has lifted people's spirits a bit. Absolutely, and I think Lindsay and Laura put it really, really eloquently.

I mean, who doesn't love an award? And if you, you know, I, I do think it raises, raises awareness. And I think it's like anything, isn't it?

If you sometimes you don't think you're doing very much or can get a bit depressed that you actually you're not making a difference, but when you actually put it all down together and say, well, actually that that does. That does mean something. And then to get that recognised by others, is really inspiring.

So I think it's just win-win all round, really, isn't it? And I think generally, you know, the public are interested and and and our clients are, are, are hugely interested in these sort of these sort of rewards or labels that they find easy to understand and, and, and helps them make make choices. So, yeah, bring it on.

I think, I think it's a fantastic scheme. I was thinking, Antony, back in, I think we started all of this back in like 2019 and there wasn't really much out there, was there? I know you were talking about it, but for now there to be awards recognising this kind of stuff and days dedicated to these topics already shows that we've already come so far.

And, you know, you should be proud of that, and I'm, I'm certainly proud of that, that our profession is now, you know, almost taking centre stage on it, . You know, we've got a lot to do, but I think we're doing really well, working in the right directions. And lovely to see how I know .

I was at the Investors in the Environment Awards in Peterborough just before Christmas, how the vets are dominating those awards as well, which was quite nice. So yeah, no, there there is definitely lots of interesting work going on, you know, really appreciate obviously the three of you for all the fantastic work you're doing. Obviously the other presenters today.

Nationwide Labs, Royal Cannon and Unive Global for helping to make the, the afternoon possible, obviously ripple effect, for all the fantastic work they're doing, this is part of our, Virtual Congress 2025, our 13th annual one. So if people do want to get involved in any of the clinical, webinars that we've got, going on, then please do look at those as well. But, you know, this is such an important area, as I say, you can't run a veterinary practise, a veterinary business, a university when there is no planet.

So we, we can only do so much, but we can, we can influence in our own little area, so let's all go out and carry on the good work. Absolutely, thank you for having me and thank you for doing today as well. Thank you for being so inspirational all of you.

And I hope you have a great rest of the evening. I'm off to watch the football, Liverpool versus Everton. I'm hoping Liverpool win.

We shall see. There are, it's as Dirgen Klopp Klopp said, it's the least, it's the most important of the least important things, but, yeah, I'm, I'm hoping for a win tonight, so hope you all have a nice day wherever you are in the world and hopefully see you on a webinar very soon. And who knows, maybe even at the veterinary green discussion forum in in France in June.

Take care everyone, bye bye. Lovely, thank you. Thank you, bye bye.