A Bucks resident has been honoured with The British Citizen Award at the Palace of Westminster, for his Services to Volunteering & Charitable Giving.
Ross Hockham from Buckinghamshire is one of 26 Medalists to be recognised for their hard work and dedication to the community, via his charity ‘UK Astronomy’.
Ross told us all about the exciting day:
"We arrived at parliament along with a host of others to receive a medal and certificate for services to education. It was then I suddenly realised that thanks to all those who have supported us, believed in us and volunteered, that we had actually made a difference. Not only in our local communities but across the UK and we just really wanted to inspire people to look into the skies and continue to do so!"
In 2014, knowing nothing about Astronomy, Ross decided to set up a charity ‘UK Astronomy’.
Ross told us about how he got into Astronomy:
"My wife bought me a small £50 table top telescope, I went out into my garden and I saw Jupiter and its four moons for the first time and I thought WOW! This is awesome I've never seen a planet before, all from my own garden! From there I just wanted to share that feeling with others."
He started visiting schools and community groups and working with local councils to inspire thousands of people to look up in wonder at our skies.
All of Ross’s spare time is spent checking night sky guides and creating activity sheets for kids, recording podcasts and running the monthly photo competition. Ross feels astronomy has no barriers and is a great way of bringing people together from all races, genders and ages.
Ross has hosted sessions for local care homes, helping those with dementia and also supports local charities by using astronomy as a way to draw people to their events.
Established in 2014, interest has grown rapidly, and he is now running events across the UK, working alongside the National Trust, schools, stately homes, care homes and local community interest groups.
Ross told us all about the day
For more information about the charity, visit https://www.ukastronomy.org/index.shtml
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