Pay it forward winner!

Remember our launch night promise to give away a dig for a day? Matt Law, the original winner kindly asked that we give his prize to someone who, unlike him, was not actively involved in archaeology:

“Would it be at all possible for you to identify somebody who might benefit from the prize? I’m sorry to create more work for you, but the prize is a really good opportunity, especially for somebody in the local community or somebody looking to get some experience in archaeology.”

What a fabulous idea we thought to ourselves, and the nominations came flooding in. Having ‘ummed’ and ‘ahhed’ over some fantastic recommendations (and thanks to all who responded) we’ve decided to make Emma Freeman our ‘Pay It Forward’ venturer. Here’s Emma in her own words…

“I live alone so i have no one to nominate me, so please may i nominate myself? I did a part-time MA in Archaeology at Birkbeck (2001-4) in London, but now I live in St Neots and although I have a part-time job, I cannot afford to join any of your digs. I would love the chance to get muddy again. Although I cannot walk long distances or stand for long periods, I can sit down and kneel and bend, but maybe if the digging gets too much, i could help with finds washing or drawing? It would just be nice to feel useful and get back into doing my bit for discovering and preserving the past again.  I would also be interested in seeing what differences there are between fenland and London terrain in terms of workability and preservation.  I know very little about fen archaeology, other than the bits i have seen on television, and I am very excited to see the levels of preservation of the finds for myself, first-hand.”

Great stuff Emma – looking forward to meeting you this Summer!