TCV celebrated our Vice President, Sir David Attenborough's 90th birthday at a very special event at Waterlow Park where we planted an Elm Tree in his honour.
Sir David said: "Simply as a citizen, I want to thank TCV for how you have transformed the way in which I spend my urban life".
He added: "You provide not only reasons but the ability to do things. You are an astonishing organisation."
Sir David showed he was happy to get his hands dirty as grabbed a spade and dug enthusiastically in front of a crowd of TCV volunteers and supporters at the ceremony at Waterlow Park in Highgate, North London. He told those watching that he did not want any criticism about his "skill with a spade", before stamping the earth around the newly planted elm tree.
These are moments in anybody's life which would stand out and I just wish everyone could do so, because they are transformative.
Sir David Attenborough
Sir David said he felt "extraordinarily lucky" to still be so active at 90. The broadcaster, who has traveled far and wide, said the stand-out moment of his 90 years was the birth of his first child. He added that he could not believe he had managed to persuade someone that the "greatest spectacles of the natural world" should be broadcast on television – and that he "was the man to put it there"."I saw all these wonderful things," he said. "Whether it was seeing the displays of the bird of paradise, whether it was sitting alongside gorillas, whether it was diving for the first time on the coral reef.
"These are moments in anybody's life which would stand out and I just wish everyone could do so, because they are transformative."
Rita Clifton CBE presented Sir David with a Oak Burr bowl made from reclaimed wood and thanked him for supporting TCV's work in communities across the UK for over 30 years.
