THE 2026-27 ORRI AWARD
Find out more about ‘The Orri’ award and how to apply below
The Orri Award returns in 2026, helping community-led wild Atlantic salmon conservation projects across the UK unlock £20,000 or more — with up to £10,000 in matched funding from NASF UK, plus tailored communications and crowdfunding support.
In its first year, our 2025 winners, Ribble Rivers Trust and River Cree Hatchery & Habitat Trust, raised more than £44,000 through matched crowdfunding and are now delivering habitat restoration, hatchery improvements and community engagement.
Created in honour of NASF founder Orri Vigfússon, the award backs practical projects that deliver measurable benefits for wild salmon and can inspire action elsewhere.
Applications open Monday 21 September and close at 5pm on Sunday 19 October 2026.
The application takes less than an hour to complete.
If you’re working to restore wild Atlantic salmon through practical, community-led conservation, we’d love to hear from you.
Scroll down to find out how to apply.
“It might seem to some that £20,000 isn't a lot of money, but it's amazing what you can turn that into on the ground when it helps unlock support from other funders.”
Jack Spees, Director and CEO of Ribble Rivers Trust
THE ORRI AWARD
‘The Orri’ Award winner(s) receive up to £10,000 in matched funding from NASF UK, helping projects raise £20,000 or more, alongside tailored communications and crowdfunding support.
Support includes:
Campaign films and photography
Communications and media
Crowdfunding strategy
Publicity and promotion
Project storytelling
The award also connects community-led salmon projects across the UK, helping successful initiatives share ideas and inspire action elsewhere.
Download our ‘All You Need to Know’ guide for eligibility, assessment criteria, key dates and the application process.
If you have any questions, please email us — we’d be very happy to help.
APPLYING FOR THE ORRI AWARD GRANT
Before applying to ‘The Orri’ award please read the ‘All you need to know’ information which contains the eligibility criteria.
Then if you have a suitable project and meet the eligibility criteria, please do apply to ‘The Orri’ award by simply clicking the button below and answering a few questions.
Whether your project focuses on salmon-river habitat restoration, fish passage or another practical conservation challenge, we'd love to hear from you.
‘The Orri’ award judges 2026/27
Galahad Clark
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Galahad Clark is Co-founder and Chief Ecosystem Officer of Vivobarefoot, the regenerative footwear company focused on natural movement, circularity and environmental responsibility.
A seventh-generation shoemaker from the Clarks family, Galahad has spent much of his career challenging conventional footwear manufacturing and exploring how business can move beyond reducing harm towards actively supporting healthier people and ecosystems.
Under his leadership, Vivobarefoot has developed initiatives including ReVivo, which repairs and recirculates used footwear, and VivoBiome, which is developing locally produced, made-to-measure footwear using digital technology.
Galahad brings to The Orri judging panel extensive experience in regenerative business, innovation and using enterprise to support positive environmental change.
Jamie Hyslop
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A lifelong angler with a passion for Atlantic salmon, he has fished in the UK and abroad, building a deep connection with rivers, fisheries and the people who depend on them.
As custodian of salmon fishing on the River Cree in southwest Scotland, he became increasingly involved in conservation and is now Chair of the River Cree District Salmon Fishery Board and an active volunteer with the River Cree Hatchery & Habitat Trust.
He also had the opportunity to meet Orri Vigfússon and show him the Cree, giving him a personal appreciation of the practical, proactive conservation approach The Orri celebrates..
Dani Morey
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Dani is a monthly columnist for ‘Trout & Salmon’ magazine and a salmon fishing guide based on The River Spey in Scotland.
She grew up fishing the southern chalk streams of England and has since travelled the world in pursuit of new fishing challenges. With over 40 years of experience she’s witnessed first-hand the negative impacts of environmental and ecological changes, on local communities and the wider world, alongside a stark fall in Atlantic salmon numbers.
As a mother, Dani is keen to ensure that everything is done to protect our wild salmon for generations to come — organising charity days, ladies days and youth schemes to educate and encourage as many people into fishing and conservation as possible.
David Profumo
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David Profumo is an author, journalist and lifelong angler based in Perthshire. He studied English at Magdalen College, Oxford, and King’s College London before becoming a teacher and later a freelance writer. His work has appeared widely in newspapers and magazines, and he has served as Fishing Correspondent for both The Daily Telegraph and Country Life. The author of two novels and several works of non-fiction, David was awarded the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize in 1989 and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1995.
Jack Spees
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Jack Spees is CEO of the Ribble Rivers Trust, where he has worked since 2008 starting as a River and Fisheries Scientist, and then in 2010 appointed to lead the organisation and its catchment conservation programmes
With extensive experience in river restoration, fisheries science and catchment management, Jack brings a deep practical understanding of the challenges facing wild salmon and river ecosystems.
In 2025, Ribble Rivers Trust was one of the first winners of The Orri Award for its Hodder Together for Salmon project, giving Jack first-hand experience of turning community-led conservation ideas into action.
Kateryna Rakowsky
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Kateryna Rakowsky brings more than 20 years’ experience across the nonprofit, philanthropic, government and corporate sectors. She is Principal at Ad Van Philanthropic Advising, where she helps mission-driven organisations develop effective strategies, strengthen programmes and maximise their impact.
Kateryna has extensive experience in environmental philanthropy and conservation, having previously served as Executive Director of the Grassy Creek Foundation and as a Board Member of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund. Her wider interests include conservation, sustainable agriculture and food security.
She brings to The Orri judging panel a strong understanding of conservation programmes and how strategic support can help ambitious projects deliver lasting impact.
Robert Sloss
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Robert’s love of fish and fishing started at the age of three, catching mackerel off his father’s boat. He is a passionate salmon and trout fisherman, with a deep desire to see these fish protected in their natural environments.
Robert met Orri Vigfusson in 2002 and was inspired by Orri’s single-minded determination to turn around the plight of the Atlantic Salmon, often against very steep odds. A few years’ later, Orri asked Robert to become a trustee of NASF(UK) and following Orri’s passing, he became its chairman.
NASF (UK) benefits from Robert’s expertise in strategic thinking and creativity in funding — gained during his 25-year long career as a UK business leader in Sustainable Development. In his role as Chairman Robert wanted to create something to continue Orri’s legacy, with the result being ‘The Orri’, an annual award, combining conservation and community.
Lord Richard Walker
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Lord Richard Walker is Executive Chairman of Iceland Foods Group, one of the UK’s largest family-owned food retailers. He is one of UK business’s most prominent environmental voices, having led the retailer's high-profile campaigns against plastics and palm oil within the grocery sector.
Alongside his retail role, Richard is Founder and Chairman of Bywater, a property developer focused on low-carbon mass timber construction. He has long championed the role businesses can play in supporting communities and addressing environmental challenges.
Richard is also a member of the House of Lords and Chair of the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation, which has donated more than £37 million to environmental, health and children’s causes.
A keen surfer and Everest summiteer, Richard brings to The Orri judging panel extensive experience in business leadership, sustainability and supporting practical action for people and the planet. Richard is also exploring more sustainable sourcing of salmon products for Iceland, with the aim of supporting the conservation of our beloved wild salmon.
Elias Pétur Viðfjörð Þórarinsson
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Elias is CEO of NASF Iceland, where he has worked since 2019. A lifelong salmon angler and former fly-fishing guide, he has guided in Iceland since 2013 and brings first-hand knowledge of rivers, fisheries and the pressures facing wild Atlantic salmon. His work with NASF focuses on practical conservation projects and collaboration to protect and restore salmon populations. As a judge for The Orri Award, Elias brings both field experience and a strong understanding of community-led action for wild salmon.
Jamie Whittle
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Jamie Whittle is an environmental and rural land lawyer at R & R Urquhart LLP in the North of Scotland. A Morehead-Cain Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he also holds an MSc in Human Ecology and lectures part-time in environmental and renewable energy law at the University of Edinburgh. Jamie is a referral solicitor for the Environmental Law Foundation and a director of several environmental charities. A keen surfer, fisherman, paddler and skier, he is also the author of White River, a book about the River Findhorn.
Savita Willmott
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Savita Willmott is Chief Executive of The Natural History Consortium, a charitable collaboration of 13 major environmental organisations working to develop innovative practice connecting people and nature.
In 2021 the charity was awarded “Top Innovator” status by the World Economic Forum’s Uplink programme. Savita designs the charity’s engagement platforms and research programmes including Festival of Nature (a West of England-wide celebration of nature running since 2003) and the Communicate (the UK’s conference for environmental communicators). She is a committed volunteer and Trustee supporting regional and national organisations.
Savita’s extensive experience in engaging new audiences with nature, aligns with the community focus of ‘The Orri’ award, and NASF (UK)’s focus on broadening the church of salmon conservation.
FAQs
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The Orri is open to individuals, organizations, and groups actively involved in salmon conservation within the United Kingdom. Both established entities and grassroots initiatives are encouraged to apply, provided the project targets UK salmon populations and involves direct conservation actions. Applicants must not have accepted funds from the open net pen salmon farming industry or any other companies that threaten wild salmon.
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Projects must involve direct action in salmon conservation and demonstrate a tangible impact on local salmon populations. We are particularly interested in initiatives that are scalable and can be implemented on a national level if successful.
Projects should also show potential for long-term sustainability and collaboration with local communities and other organizations.
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Applications will be assessed based on several key criteria:
Proposed Future Actions: Clarity of objectives, feasibility, potential impact, resource management, and the substantial impact of ‘The Orri’ funding.
Overall Contribution to Conservation: Demonstrated or planned leadership, advocacy, collaboration, and community involvement in salmon conservation.
Scalability: The potential for the project to be scaled or replicated in other regions.
Marketing and Momentum: Plans for gaining visibility and excitement about the project through effective marketing and publicity strategies.
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The winning project will receive a grant of up to £10,000 in match funding at a 1:1 ratio (in total up to £20 000).
The funds should be used to support and enhance the project's conservation efforts, with a focus on scaleability and the potential to serve as a blueprint for other conservation initiatives.
The award is intended to have a substantial impact on the project’s success and overall funding.
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Successful projects receive hands-on crowdfunding, marketing and communications support throughout their campaign.
Tom Silk brings expertise in marketing and crowdfunding, with bi-weekly coaching to help teams develop their campaign plan, build momentum and refine their approach, including a gift-for-giving strategy.
Nicky Shale brings expertise in communications, media and environmental storytelling, providing strategic and editorial support across campaign messaging, social media, campaign-page copy, press releases, film and social vignettes.
Together, this support helps projects build the skills, tools and confidence to communicate, fundraise and engage supporters — capabilities that stay with the organisation long after The Orri campaign ends.
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Open for Applications: September 21st 2026
Applicant guidance: Two webinars hosted by NASF (UK) for applicants in September/October 2026 (including Q&A).
Shortlisting: 21st October, shortlisting of up to 5 projects.
Virtual pitch: Finalists attend a virtual pitch on 20th November.
Winner(s) announced: November 27th.
Crowdfunding campaign preparation: NASF (UK) support package commences November 30th.
Crowdfunding campaign launches for ‘The Orri’ winning project: for 4-6 weeks from February (1st or 8th February TBC).
These dates outline the timeline from application submission to the launch of ‘The Orri’ project winner’s Crowdfunder Campaign — including a package of support from NASF (UK).
Please ensure your application is submitted within the specified dates to be considered for the award.