Prize guy is at one with nature after winning Cairngorms competition

An Edinburgh teenager is the winner of the Cairngorms Nature Young Presenter 2018 competition.

After a nail biting two weeks of waiting, it has been announced that after thousands of online votes,  13-year-old Aiden Curlewis is the esteemed 2018 winner, writes Olivia Dobson. 

The competition was launched in June and is in partnership with the Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB), and required entrants to send in short videos showcasing their skill in talking about nature and their enthusiasm for inspiring others.

Aiden has won the chance to make a short film with BBC nature presenter Iolo Williams in the Cairngorms National Park.

Aiden Curlewis from Edinburgh is the Cairngorms Young Nature Presenter for 2018

Aiden and his family will spend five nights at a fabulous private steading in Glen Feshie, in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park courtesy of Speyside Wildlife, who have been running all-inclusive wildlife watching holidays in this special place for 25 years.

He said: ‘I am absolutely thrilled to be voted the Cairngorms Nature Young Presenter 2018. I have been passionate about wildlife and nature since the age of three. I have always found wildlife fascinating and extraordinary, and becoming a TV nature presenter has always been my dream job.

Aiden will get to work with TV presenter Iolo Williams

‘I am very excited to get the opportunity to spend a day with Iolo Williams! I’d like to thank the RSPB and the Cairngorms National Park Authority for hosting this competition, and I hope that the other finalists do not give up and good luck to them in the future.

Stuart Benn was the RSPB judge and added: ‘It has been a privilege to be a judge and watch so many young people speak about their passion for nature. Aiden is a deserving winner, he is passionate and enthusiastic and I am looking forward to meeting him when he comes on his prize trip.’

The competition was filled with talented entrants with the finalists receiving hundreds of votes each and all runners-up will be receiving both an evening in a wildlife hide in the Cairngorms National Park and a camera trap courtesy of Speyside Wildlife.