My daughter sent me a great article this week about how a supportive ecosystem (mentors, colleagues, culture, resources etc) is at least as important as personal traits (resilience, grit, hard work etc).

On the same day I walked into a visitors’ centre in the Thames marshes. Built by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. They’d bought the surrounding land 40 years ago from the Dept of Defence, cleaned it up, and restored it to marshland. Bird numbers and diversity up sharply. School trips to learn about the environment. Parents – and grandparents – showing their children the birds. Air filled with birdsong. The RSPB restored part of our ecosystem, and in so doing made life immeasurably better for wildlife. And humans.

All of us – not just birdwatchers – need organizations like this. The RSPB was set up by Emily Williamson in Manchester in 1889 and has thrived ever since. Its easy to see why.