Rutland man set to complete "amazing feat" for Rutland Osprey Project
Roger Keightley, in his 70s, is taking part in his fifth Rutland Triathlon today to raise funds for the county's Osprey Project
A Rutland man, who's volunteered with the Rutland Osprey Project for nearly 30 years, will compete in his fifth consecutive Rutland Triathlon to raise money for the project which he holds close to his heart.
Roger Keightley, in his 70s, will run, swim and cycle over 25 kilometres today and has already raised hundreds of pounds towards the continued conservation and research of Ospreys at Manton Bay.
On his fundraiser webpage, Roger said: "As a volunteer for the Rutland Water Osprey Relocation Project for 27 years, I have been privileged to witness the growth of this fabulous species of bird of prey.
In the Rutland county there is now a self-sustainable breeding population which is, albeit slowly, expanding to other areas of the country. The project will eventually help to restore the Ospreys’ presence nationally, finally righting the wrongs of our predecessors who all but wiped them out in the mid-nineteenth century.
I competed in my first Olympic distance triathlon at Rutland Water in 2019 having turned 70 a few months earlier and have participated each year since (apart from 2020 when all events were cancelled). I’m now older, slower and wiser, so I will be taking part in the shorter Sprint Triathlon and hope you will support my challenge to raise funds for this project."
George Smith, from the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, said: "Roger is one of our osprey monitoring volunteers, so besides just this charity drive that he's doing at the moment, he spends countless hours of his own time spent in our waderscrape hide overlooking the osprey nest.
What he's doing there typically is protecting it, making sure people don't go anywhere near it, but also taking data from the site so that we have a good understanding of how the ospreys are doing each year.
So, this year, Roger extraordinarily has devoted himself to do the Dambuster Triathlon. He's over 70 years old now, so old in age but maybe not so in spirit. He's now raised over £600 for us and the money that he raises in doing this amazing feat goes directly towards the conservation of ospreys in the area."