Sponsorship of Pocket Pals, an app that aims to encourage young people to "look up" from their tablet and phone screens and engage with nature.
"Pocket Pals is an upcoming app that connects people with British wildlife and the environment. Similar to Pokemon GO, users will walk nature reserves or streets to collect British animals. The game will have a strong educational emphasis and aims to encourage children to reconnect with the outdoors. The app has received start up funding from the Youth Agency and is being produced by animation students at Falmouth University."
Donation of two binoculars to Dominique Rhoades for her project studying Kordofan Giraffe in The Republic of Chad.
"I am in the process of setting up a long term monitoring project, which will be the first of it's kind; Kordofan Giraffe in The Republic of Chad. For this, the project is in need of a minimum of one pair (preferably two) of binoculars, able to see detail at distance, as we use the giraffes coat pattern to identify individuals, and predator attack scars."
Donation of MM4 50 Travel Scope and Traveller ED 8x32 binoculars to Gary Prescott, The Biking Birder. This is to support his efforts to break the Green Birding Big Green Big Year record. Follow his adventures here - bikingbirder2016.blogspot.com
"There are a number of extremely intrepid people who participate in a sport called Green Birding. Now Green Birding, which started in Canada over a decade ago now, is where an individual or team aim to see as many bird species within a time frame, a day, a month or at its greatest challenge level a year. The proviso being that the birder cannot use fossil fuel for transport during this time. He or she may cycle, walk or kayak/packraft but cannot use fossil fuels, even for support.
At the moment the ultimate World Green Birding record, the Big Year record known as the BIGBY (Big Green Big Year) is held by a brilliant American named Dorian Anderson. Dorian in 2014, cycled around the USA, cycling over 16,000 miles and saw an incredible 618 species. This beat the previous record by over 300.
This year I will beat that record and that is the aim of my expedition."
Donation of T4 Trailfinder binoculars as raffle prize for Hallam 'European Wood Pastures’ Conference.
Donation of Adventurer II WP Spotting Scope to Matthew Munro, a Scottish national level archer.
"I have been competing for 6 years now, and have represented Scotland at a national level. I have been ranked as high as 12th in Britain as a junior. This outdoor season I will be aspiring to make the Scottish senior team for this year's British target champs and Euro nations."
Spanish tour guide Álvaro Peral received a donation of T4 Trailfinder and DBA VHD binoculars plus an MM3 60 travelscope. His company is Wild Andalucia - more information available here - and this is what they say about themselves:
"We lead birding tours in central and southern Spain, including classical destinations such as Extremadura, Doñana Natural Park and the Straits of Gibraltar, among many other renown birding spots.
We are based in Ronda -near Málaga airport- and we only take small groups. We adapt to your requirements and like to spend time enjoying all the birds we encounter, maybe an orchid that we find, or maybe taste a gazpacho while the Alpine Swifts fly over us. Our bird watching trips are always run in a friendly way and tuned to meet your needs."
Donation of Adventurer II WP Spotting Scope to Kate Dunninghan (pictured right) and Sarah Bettles, members of Archery GB. 
Donation of T4 Trailfinder 10x42 binoculars to young Welsh archer Amelia Thomas:
"At the European 3D Championships in Sweden earlier this month (October 2018), she came an astounding 5th place in the womens senior category beating ex champions along the way. What is truly remarkable is that she did this at the tender age of just 13!"
Donation of Taiga 12x25 compact binoculars to archer Bethany Sinclair.
Sponsorship of highly respected wildlife author and naturalist Mark Cocker. We supplied Mark with an Imagic BGA VHD 8x42 binocular and MM4 60 ED angled travelscope to use on the various guided tours he runs in places such as Spain, the Balkans and Scotland. Find out more about Mark and what he does here.
Appointment of Josh Hill as a Young Ambassador for Opticron. Follow Josh on Twitter here.
Donation of Savanna R PC 8x33 binocular to Chester Zoo to use as a raffle prize to raise funds for song bird conservation efforts in South East Asia at a meeting of the BIAZA Bird Working Group.