Stephen Lowe

Location: Preston | Lancashire

BBC Radio Presenter and Forester...

Stephen is an Honorary Fellow of Myerscough College, he was awarded the fellowship for his continued support of the rural communities and businesses of Lancashire on his BBC Radio show. Stephen first attended Myerscough College in 1989 on a Youth Training Scheme which was the start of his life of working in the countryside. He is the only former YTS student to be made a fellow of the college.

Stephen presents “Lancashire Outdoors” every weekend on BBC Radio Lancashire. The programme is an outside broadcast which changes location each week and reports on all things concerning the great outdoors. He has been a BBC radio broadcaster since 2006 when he won a competition to find new voices for the airwaves. As a strong advocate of all things outdoors, Stephen’s passion for sharing the wonderment of nature comes across loud and clear in each of his broadcasts.

Stephen has worked for over 30 years in the Arboricultural sector across the UK. Having started out working on a countryside estate as an apprentice, he has held several roles across both the public and private sector. As an operative working for Fountain Forestry in the 90’s he has estimated he planted over 750,000 trees during his time on the spade. Many of these trees are now becoming woodlands cherished by the local communities around them.

Since Jan 2013 Stephen has been an Environmental Judge for the Royal Horticultural Society’s Britain in Bloom competition. As an RHS judge Stephen is called upon in the summer to score entries across the Northwest of England. Using his knowledge of all things woodland and tree related he loves to pass on best practice to Local Authorities, Schools and Bloom groups across the region. He lists his greatest personal achievement within this role as revisiting groups 12 months after an initial visit to see his ideas implemented within their entry, resulting in enhanced communal areas for the whole community.

He has also completed 17 years volunteering as a Governor at Belthorn Academy Primary School with responsibilities for the finance and health and safety committees. He has employed his transferable project management skills to assist in overseeing 2 major building projects at the school and is especially proud of the role he has played in the continued development of the school and its growing reputation.     

Stephen has been Chairman of 1st Oswaldtwistle St Paul’s Scout Group for 9 years and has been on the committee since 2008. In 2019 the group was awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service, awarded for the extensive amount of community involvement taken up by the group. Stephen says chairing the group is one of his proudest achievements. In 2013 Stephen was invested as a Scouting Ambassador for Lancashire, a role for which he has recently received a Highly Commended award from the Chief Scout.

Stephen is a member of the Utility Arboriculture Group (UAG) an industry body whose purpose is to innovate, influence and promote the safe, efficient and sustainable management of vegetation by and on behalf of the UK utility sector through effective and sustainable vegetation management programs. The UAG provides professional representation and advocacy on behalf of its members. The UAG serves the wider public in line with the charitable aims and adopted strategy of the Arboricultural Association, by developing, and maintaining links with the Arboricultural Association’s membership, arboricultural businesses.