Dover Lifestock Checker Team, Fifth Continent Heritage Volunteers, John Hammond, Mike Remon, Paul Alford and Tim Parry, Romney Marsh Community Garden, and Selwyn Dennis

Dover Livestock Checker Team 

Throughout lockdown, the Dover Livestock Checkers have excelled in making sure the animals were checked daily. The livestock checkers have also taken on new sites and are even checking more than one site in a day, each one occasionally taking more than a couple of hours, all completed on a voluntary basis. They have demonstrated flexibility which has reduced the amount of staff time needed and reduced the time needed to recruit new checkers. The livestock are constantly being checked to a high-quality standard and injuries or illnesses are picked up quickly which has vastly improved the welfare of the animals and ensured the conservation grazing of Dover reserves run smoothly. This required a lot of collaboration within the team to deliver high-quality livestock checks and ensure the high-quality welfare of animals.  

Fifth Continent Heritage Volunteers 

The Heritage volunteers have gone above and beyond to help with the delivery of the archaeological and heritage aspects of the Fifth Continent Project. The Fifth Continent Landscape Partnership Scheme, which the Kent Wildlife Trust is part of, is successfully delivering a broad range of exciting projects across Romney Marsh based around the three themes of ‘Restore, Rediscover and Reclaim’. Over the past year the volunteers have shown up in person where possible and worked on projects from home where needed, enabling the work to continue. The Heritage volunteers continue to carry out their roles even through a pressing time, to fulfil their commitments and allow work on Romney Marsh to continue, so that people are encouraged to rediscover, reclaim and reconnect with their heritage and wildlife. The Heritage volunteers have demonstrated passion, collaboration, knowledge and responsibility by instigating Zoom sessions during lockdown. 

John Hammond 

John is a regular volunteer in the Dover Reserves Volunteer Team. He sets up bonfires with a mechanised blower, built by himself, which reduces risk to other volunteers. John goes the extra mile through using his engineering skills and ensuring the upkeep of tools, which are all built from recycled and dumped materials which helps to save money. John works very well with other volunteers and has dedicated many hours to the Dover Volunteer Team, helping with the management of the restoration of chalk downland. He demonstrates commitment and inspires new volunteers to dedicate their time to helping KWT for the benefit of wildlife.  

Mike Remon

Mike has turned his hand to anything thrown at him over the last two years as a Facilities Volunteer, going above and beyond in his role. His contributions have included painting, plumbing, building flatpack furniture and even installing nappy changing stations and hand sanitisers for health and safety. His reliability and sense of humour has been a massive boost to Kent Wildlife Trust. Mike’s contribution to the Trust has enabled them to complete several projects, including maintaining and improving the kitchen, the training room and the education cottage for school visits.  

Paul Alford and Tim Parry 

Paul and Tim are Romney Marsh Visitor Centre Grounds Volunteers and have made a huge difference around the grounds from emptying bins to fixing and repairing the infrastructure. They have been instrumental to the centre’s successful re-opening to the public after the coronavirus outbreak and have created lovely wildflower areas for people to enjoy. This has given the Romney Marsh Visitor Centre site a breath of life making the garden fun and attractive with a picnic area and paths for people to get closer to nature. These developments would not have been possible without Paul and Tim’s contributions and dedication. 

Romney Marsh Community Garden  

The Romney Marsh Volunteer Garden Team have gone above and beyond expectations in the community garden to create a lovely and attractive space for the public and for Kent Wildlife Trust to use for events. The space has fun sculptures and bird feeding stations to support the local area’s bird population. This has made a massive difference to the site and the garden will now produce lovely fruits and salad for the first time in years. The garden is now used by multiple groups and people are using and enjoying the space, getting them closer to nature. This would not have been possible without the contributions of the community garden volunteer team. 

Selwyn Dennis

Selwyn is incredibly passionate about wildlife, people’s enjoyment of it and how it should be protected. Throughout lockdown, Selwyn has kept everyone up to date with weekly updates from his explorations of Queendown Warren and Potters Wood while the task day team was not running and volunteers could not visit the reserve. He kept track of wildlife highlights and general goings on and helped to keep the volunteer team connected to both the reserve and each other. Selwyn’s contribution of 6 years’ worth of transect data is invaluable to monitoring the health of butterfly populations across the reserve. His data also provides yearly reports on wildlife highlights and trends on the reserve. Selwyn has inspired and continues to inspire many of the team, both staff and volunteers, and the general public to engage in conservation and nature.  

Ashford Livestock Checkers, Dennis Fryer, Darland Banks Team, The Bee Roads Team, The Wild About Gardens Volunteer Team and Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve Green Team

Ashford Livestock Checkers 

The Hothfield Heathlands Livestock Checker Team are unrivalled in their diligence, reliability and care. No matter the forecast, they will go out and ensure that all the animals are well and looked after and they go above and beyond when fulfilling their duties. Some of the team have been livestock checking for a decade and they have become the face of Kent Wildlife Trust in the area, explaining the purpose of the livestock and the importance of the reserves. An incredible amount of the Kent Wildlife Trust’s conservation work would not be possible without the team. The Livestock Checkers are helping the Trust reintroduce a more diverse set of grazing animals to recreate the balance in our ecosystems that has long been lost. The team are often the first to spot vandalism, dodgy fences or other hazards on the reserve and their link with the community ties the Trust more closely with surrounding towns and villages, bring the aims of the Trust closer into the heart of the community. 

Dennis Fryer 

Dennis had been volunteering with the Ashford team since 2010 and his enthusiasm and boundless energy has been at the heart of the team since then. Dennis trained for his chainsaw ticket and is now key in felling, processing and creating trailer loads of firewood to supplement the Kent Wildlife Trust’s income. His generous nature means that nothing is a problem and he is quick to offer a solution to any issue, often involving his own time, money and effort. In the last five year’s alone, Dennis has contributed an astounding 375 days of volunteering! The difference he makes can be seen on many of the areas that the Trust protects and the woodland restoration on these sites has often only been possible because of Dennis’ skilled work. 

Darland Banks Team 

While out on task, the team frequently engage passing members of the public and discuss the work that they are doing, even encouraging some of them to become volunteers themselves. Throughout the pandemic, they have truly shown their passion, not only for the natural world but also for one another and the team as a whole. They have set up an online group full of daily updates on the fauna and flora from the reserve and the mini reserves in their back gardens, they help identify unknown species and share views from their walks. The passion that the team shows is infectious and every member of the team works hard to help manage the reserve. 

The Bee Roads Team 

The team have been together since the Making a Buzz for the Coast project started in late 2017. The volunteers have really come together, particularly in the last year, and have been a brilliant help with a wide range of tasks. They get stuck in whatever the weather and have given up over 350 days of their time to help on the Bee Roads, with 200 bags of litter collected and nearly 200 bags of cuttings filled. They support each other with species identification and are great advocates for Kent Wildlife Trust. Their passion has continued online throughout lockdown and they are itching to get back out on the Bee Roads soon. The team are raising in the profile of Kent Wildlife Trust in an area where they are relatively unknown. They work on sites that are managed in partnership with Kent County Council and Swale Borough Council and this collaborative working helps Kent Wildlife Trust to have a wider influence over the landscape of Kent, opening up opportunities for further partnership work. 

The Wild About Gardens Volunteer Team 

This group are a team in the fullest sense of the word and in the past several of them have been recipients of individual Silver Butterfly Awards. There are currently over 40 experienced garden advisors in the team and 12 trainees. They are committed to improving biodiversity across the county and encouraging others to get involved, primarily through the wildlife friendly gardening advice scheme which is open to any type of garden in Kent. Since 2008, the team have visited over 1200 different gardens. Since social distancing measures were introduced, the team have devised a tailor-made advice scheme which has enabled them to continue their work. There has been a steep learning curve for the volunteers to improve their IT skills and their support for one another has been incredible. The team promote study days and Kent Wildlife Trust events and are always keen to recruit more volunteers. The scheme is well respected across the county and beyond and much of this is down to the contributions of the volunteers. 

Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve Green Team 

Even before the pandemic, this volunteer team has probably withstood the most amount of change and upheaval of any volunteer team in the organisation. Their passion for the site and its wildlife, and the support they show for each other is truly inspirational. The team are the primary resource for the management of a complex site and by being willing to take on this work, the team save the organisations thousands of pounds in contractor costs. They are great ambassadors and positive role models for the site and are always happy to show people what they are doing and point members of the public in the right direction. 

Trevor Bareham, Steve Headley, Karen Thorpe, Roland Wells-Coyler, Ella White, Janet Rootes

Trevor Bareham

Trevor is a reserves volunteer/leader at the Kent Wildlife Trust and has volunteered for nearly 10 years as part of their Weald team. Trevor is known for going above and beyond expectations and is always willing to help if he can.

He has taken on more responsibility, leading tasks when staff are unable to, driving others and tools and materials to sites across the weald. He also provides logistical support, meaning people and tools are always in the right place for the tasks ahead. Trevor attends two tasks a week, and of those tasks, has been leading on one most weeks. He is passionate about improving the weald reserves and his regular volunteering week in week out, including tasks such as chain sawing, has helped to achieve a great deal on the reserves.

Trevor has great dedication to the Trust and specifically the reserves in the weald area, where he is making a noticeably great contribution.

Steve Headley

Steve has shown exceptional commitment, dedication and enthusiasm for all aspects of conservation evidence over the last three years. He helps with surveys on reserves throughout the summer, and for the rest of the year he is in the office most Wednesdays tirelessly entering the data.

He has attended courses to enhance his plant identification skills to support KWT surveys, and often brings useful reports, articles and information to staff’s attention. In addition to survey data entry, he also uploads the records of the 60-80 wildlife recorders who collect records on the reserves, to the database. Data processing is not the most glamorous of tasks, but nonetheless Steve treats it with enthusiasm.

Steve makes a huge contribution to collecting and processing the data that’s collected on the condition of KWT’s reserves. He provides a vital role in supporting the use of data to understand the effectiveness of KWT’s reserve management. Steve’s commitment over several years, and reliability, mean that KWT have a trained member of the team who is always making progress with the huge task of data entry each season.

Karen Thorpe

Karen has been an extremely enthusiastic volunteer with the Bee Roads team since the day she joined. In 2018, she attended almost all the plant and pollinator monitoring days, always fully dedicated to the task in hand. Similarly, she has been extremely helpful on practical habitat management tasks, come rain or shine, getting stuck in with brush cutting, raking and carting sacks of sand around to complete the bee banks.

Karen’s passion for volunteering is inspirational and has encouraged others to join the Bee Road volunteer team, which is essential to the success of the project. In 2018, Karen took on the role of Bee Roads Volunteer Warden on their site at Swale Way in Sittingbourne. Since then she has regularly visited the site, carrying out bumblebee transects, reporting any damage to the site and tirelessly litter picking.

She has picked up bumblebee identification very quickly and is passionate about sharing her knowledge with other Bee Road volunteers and the wider public. She has even started a second bumblebee transect at her local nature reserve. Since starting a full-time job in early 2019, she still manages to walk both transects and help with surveys on the Bee Roads on her days off, demonstrating her total dedication and passion to bee conservation.

Dedicated volunteers like Karen who help to manage and monitor the Bee Road sites are extremely valuable to Kent Wildlife Trust because it enables a larger area of land in Kent to be influenced by Kent Wildlife Trust for the benefit of wildlife, helping to safeguard populations of rare species.

Roland Wells-Coyler

Roland (Roly) is often encountered at Ham Fen or at Pegwell, a familiar figure with his camo gear, long lens and binoculars. Roly is not only an experienced and dedicated regular livestock checker across two different Sandwich reserves two days a week, he has been a butterfly transect surveyor too. He goes the extra mile – or ten miles – by compiling a weekly email reporting on the wildlife he’s seen on each visit to Ham Fen and Pegwell, with a focus on two of his passions: dragonflies and birds. The Roly Report is a chatty, good-humoured, informative ‘service’ that he provides as a generous bonus to his formal volunteering role. It is both useful to the warden team and inspiring and educative for everyone on its ever-expanding distribution list.

His encyclopedic knowledge, especially of dragonflies and damselflies, their life cycles and habits, is hugely impressive and freely shared. Roly’s cheeky, playful humour always lightens up inboxes, and his enthusiasm and his obvious love for KWT’s reserves is infectious. Recently, the way he has bounced back after recuperating from injury, throwing himself back into his volunteering roles, has been an inspiration to the KWT staff and volunteer team.

Ella White

Ella has spent over a year volunteering her time weekly for the Hill at the Heart project based around the Old Park Hill Nature Reserve and the Dover Connector Project in Dover. The main project was funded by the Big Lottery for the Reaching Communities Fund and the project was delivered by a small staff team and a much-needed volunteer base. Ella was one KWT’s more active young volunteers with over a year’s worth of volunteering in the office supporting the team, out on the reserve helping the wardens or assisting the outreach team with events and stalls to engage the community to encourage them to restore the grass chalkland areas on their doorsteps.

Ella has shown fantastic organisational skills and communicates well with staff, volunteers and members of the public. Ella played an important role in supporting the team with planning events, often taking part in project meetings and taking an active role in discussions. When given tasks, Ella completes them with ease. Her overall input to the project has been received with great appreciation from her team. Not only has she actively worked to help and support the team, but she’s shown true resilience through tough situations. Ella is a calm and positive influence and remains undeterred, taking problems in her stride. She has been described as a true asset to the team.

Janet Rootes

Janet Rootes has undertaken the role of Programme Officer for the Sevenoaks Local Group since autumn 2010. In that time, she has successfully helped transform the fortunes of the Sevenoaks Local Group by producing programmes that have seen numbers increase year on year, with attendees coming back time and time again and giving constant positive feedback. This success had enabled the group to raise significant funds to assist their reserve in various projects over the period. At the same time Janet has dedicated her time to handle the refreshments bar at all the events, a role she has also carried out at the Sevenoaks Visitor Centre by volunteering for weekend duties in the past.

As well as her tremendous work with the Sevenoaks Local Group, Janet has been a regular volunteer in the Jeffery Harrison Visitor Centre, welcoming visitors, manning the café area and assisting with Kent Wildlife Trust events. She has made a significant contribution to the Local Group and to the KWT.

Paul Alford, Richard Atkins, Peter Atherall, Kevin Choy, Jim Yeeles and Maxime Zanni

Paul Alford

Paul has individually transformed much of the Romney Marsh Visitor Centre outside areas into a place where families and visitors can enjoy being outside and where events such as Open-Air theatre productions can take place. He has achieved this by grass cutting, clearing the overgrowth of scrub and willow, bringing his own ideas on how improvements can be made and working with the team at the Centre to bring them to life. This year, he has taken on the responsibility of leading a team of volunteers and helping them to appreciate the importance of their role through motivation and quiet leadership. The team have begun to take on larger projects as a result which are really helping to improve the centre.

Richard Atkins

Richard has been instrumental in keeping the Wooden It Be Crafty project running smoothly and has been involved with the project since it began. He has a steadfast, dependable nature and an uncanny ability to see what help is needed and where. He has been involved in a number of projects which have stretched his comfort zones at times, but he has always adapted and really got involved. Richard’s confidence has grown throughout his current project and he has found strength in his ability to perform tasks and take the initiative to know what needs to be done to ensure the tasks are completed. Richard enjoys working with some of the harder to reach groups, seeing past their sometimes challenging nature to the benefits of getting them out into nature and working with natural materials.

Peter Atherall

Peter is a highly valued member of the team, is extremely knowledgeable and more than happy to share his expertise with others. He has dedicated a huge amount of his time over many years to single-handedly carrying out the butterfly monitoring at Sandwich Bay, visiting the site at least once a month during the monitoring season. Peter’s effort and dedication have ensured that there are accurate important records of butterfly numbers and species at the bay. As well as the butterflies, Peter has taken responsibility for monitoring the Deptford Pink that grows on the Bay’s reserve. This is a protected plant species found on only 15 sites in the UK and thanks to Peter’s hard work more can be done to ensure its conservation.

Kevin Choy

Kevin is responsible for coordinating the various elements required to put together corporate volunteering days, which can often be a complex task. He has an easy and relaxed manner which allows him to get the best out of people and always goes above and beyond to make sure the projects he works on are a success and everyone is getting the best experience. Kevin has provided valuable input into the future development of a formal corporate volunteering scheme. Without him, staff would have to designate more time to handling small details and chasing individuals and would not be able to capitalise on all the opportunities that come their way.

Jim Yeeles

Jim has been volunteering at Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve for over 10 years. He is a great asset in the running of this and other local nature reserves, carrying out important conservation work and ensuring that vital activities can take place. Jim really cares about the reserve, making suggestions for improvements, researching information about how to optimise the way the reserve functions and helping to complete surveys. He is also trained as a chainsaw, brushcutter, mower and winch operator which has come in handy on many an occasion. Jim recently played a crucial role in enabling American mink control on site because of his willingness to help when staff are unavailable.

Maxime Zanni

Max is a dedicated member of the conservation team and has attended over 100 task days since the Hill at the Heart project started in 2016. He has some significant personal challenges to overcome in order to take part, but his dedication and commitment saw him attend all the task days he could with a positive, enthusiastic attitude. Max has grown in confidence and sets a great example in encouraging others to volunteer, no matter what challenges they may be experiencing and how volunteering can help them face these challenges.

Chris Rogers, Sheila Flynn, David Johnson, Gareth Christian, Jim Eather, Dave Eather, Judith Hathrill and Sharon Gisby

Chris Rogers and Sheila Flynn

Chris and Sheila have been volunteering with the Ashford Sunday team since 2009, and are also involved with the work of Kent Wildlife Trust at Hothfield Heathlands. Their standing in the local area and in the dog walking community has been of great advantage to Kent Wildlife Trust, raising the profile of the trust, drawing in new volunteers and creating useful contacts within the community. They officially took on the role of Honorary Wardens for Hothfield Heathlands in 2014. Chris’ most recent venture is to raise funds for the Trust by selling stools and wooden mushrooms that he has made from materials felled on the reserve.

Claire Fox

Claire has been on the North West Kent Local Group committee since 1990 and its secretary since 1993, diligently attending and recording meetings as well as providing much sought after refreshments! Claire has a full time job which sometimes requires her to work on the evening of a meeting, in which case she ensures that everything is prepared in advance. This year, Claire will be standing down from the committee and her award will provide recognition of her calm and capable dedication to the group for many years.

David Johnson

David helped to set up the North West Kent Local Group in October 1983 and has been a member of the committee since the first AGM in 1984. He was Chairman of the Group from 1993 to 1995, has been the group’s Indoor Meeting Organiser for many years, organising an engaging and varied programme of speakers, and is currently Vice-Chairman of the group. David is a keen birder and orchid expert, giving presentations to the group on the latter and leading some walks for the group as part of the outdoor meeting activities.

Gareth Christian

Gareth has been a dedicated volunteer at Kent Wildlife Trust for over a decade and is a skilled chainsaw, brush cutter and herbicide operator, team leader and a keen photographer – his wildlife images have been included in a number of publications. He has been an enthusiastic and committed supporter of Ecology Groups in the Darent Triangle since its inception, regularly contributing to habitat condition surveys and submitting biological records of everything from mammals to reptiles to moths and other invertebrates. Gareth is a highly valued and respected member of the volunteer team.

Jim and Dave Eather

Dave has been a volunteer for 13 years in the Medway area. He is a trained and very active brush-cutter operator and his engineering background has proved very helpful when anything mechanical on the reserves requires repair or replacement. Jim has been a volunteer since 2008, also in the Medway areas, and has turned his hand to many tasks. He is always ready to encourage new members of the team and his record-keeping experience contributes to many botanical surveys on the reserves. Jim also volunteers at the Tyland Barn Visitor Centre 2 days a week and is a friendly and welcoming face to visitors.

Judith Hathrill

Judith joined the team of Wild About Gardens volunteers in 2011, visiting around 10 gardens per year and sharing her gardening and wildlife knowledge with others – she is particularly good at encouraging people to create small wildlife friendly ponds. She also offers assistance with events and office admin, running a check-in desk at the annual celebration event which attracted 300 guests amongst other events. Judith is a good mentor for new volunteers, running training sessions and encouraging other volunteers to become mentors.

Sharon Gisby

Sharon has volunteered with Shoresearch since 2014, taking on a lead role in surveys very soon afterwards. In 2015, she began to volunteer with the marine team in the office once a week, steadily working her way through the marine team’s immense catalogue of photos and taking on the task of deciphering scribbled lists of a mixture of Latin and non-Latin named species from the Shoresearch surveys so that they can be circulated to the right people.

Angus MacLeod, Linda Evans, Paul Willmott, Pip Terry, Robin Shrubsole and Yvonne Lewis-Cut

Angus MacLeod
Angus began volunteering in 2008 at the Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve Visitor Centre and also helps out at the Festival of Wildlife. Angus is a brilliant character with a quick mind and friendly banter which always makes for a positive experience for visitors to the centre. He tackles each new challenge presented to him with vigour and is a very reliable volunteer, using his quick mind and friendly banter to positive experience for the guests.

Linda Evans
Linda has been a valuable member of the volunteer team at the Reculver Visitor Centre and Country Park since 2009, updating the sightings at Reculver, engaging with the general public, opening the Visitor Centre, creating impressive and popular exhibitions and assisting at many events that the centre runs.

Paul Willmott
Paul volunteers with the Dover Downlands and the Old Park Hill volunteer groups, providing an extra pair of hands whenever they are needed. He is hard working and very rarely misses the opportunity to help out with a task. He has also helped to organise the storage area at Dover Castle, building structures to store tools and fence posts out of random bits of timber and other materials.

Pip Terry
For the last ten years, Pip has looked after the sheep and ponies at the Queendown Warren Nature Reserve, managing to maintain his positive attitude while working alone in all weathers. He has taught the Medway & Mid-Kent Area Warden everything about looking after sheep and keeping them safe and well, especially when it comes to day to day care.

Robin Shrubsole
Robin first began volunteering in 2004 doing Shoresearch surveying and data checking, focusing on species which are often overlooked by others and frequently uses his microscope for more accurate identification which helps in providing robust data for the Trust to confidently submit to statutory bodies. He willingly shares his expertise with others, not only when out on the shore, but also by running workshops helping to identify marine polychaete worms.

Yvonne Lewis-Cut
Yvonne first began volunteering in the 1970s and has held a number of roles, including leading a Watch local group enthusing children about the natural world. She has participated in practical conservation tasks on Trust reserves and acted as a road verge warden in East Kent. She has been an active member of the committees of Folkestone, Hythe and Dover local groups, as membership secretary, publicity officer and events secretary, organising events to entertain and inform local audiences and promote support.

John Bartlett, Diane Harris, Owen Sweeney, Nigel Newington, John and Rosemary Roberts and Dave Wood

John Bartlett
John has been a reliable volunteer with the Rare Bird Protection Scheme at South Swale since 1993. His unstinting work during the bird breeding season and beyond has provided protection to rare bird species as well as other wildlife. He has provided valuable data for the annual bird reports and been active in helping with public events on the reserve, contributing his knowledge and enthusiasm freely.

Diane Harris 
Diane has been a regular volunteer for over 12 years and an invaluable member of the team at Tyland Barn Nature Park and Cottage Garden. She contributes great energy and effort to her role. She is a skilled gardener and has many wildlife interests, which she brings to her role as a volunteer.

Owen Sweeney
Owen is an active member of the Queendown Warren Reserve work party, where he has been volunteering since the group started. He has a keen interest in birds and carries out many bird surveys, monitoring reserves and other sites in the Medway area. He also corresponds with the Kent Wildlife Trust’s conservation team over local planning issues.

Nigel Newington
Nigel has been a volunteer at the Lydden Temple Ewell National Nature Reserve for 15 years. He has recently become involved with the Dover area chalk grassland restoration work at Old Park Hill and Dover Castle, monitoring the chalk grassland flowers, butterflies, birds and other wildlife around Dover reserves.

John & Rosemary Roberts
John and Rosemary have been volunteers for over 15 years on the Trust’s roadside nature reserves, carrying out practical work and surveys. They are also Honorary Wardens at the Longfield Chalk Bank, where they survey for the rare grey mouse ear plant which is what makes the little known reserve so special. Rosemary serves as Treasurer for the North West Kent Local Group, while John has helped the group organise outdoor meetings and walks.

Dave Wood
Dave volunteers with the Seasearch diving survey programme and  has participated in the majority of the Trust’s diving surveys where his contribution ranges from diving experience and species identification, to impressive sea life photography. In 2012 Dave’s involvement in Seasearch was featured in the national Wildlife Trust’s magazine, Natural World and an article he wrote to inspire others across the country to become involved in marine surveys.

Una McKeand, Ros Clark, Brian Heselden, Alicia Arthur, Val Coxhead, Mike Meakins and Daphne Mills

Una McKeand
Una has been a volunteer since 1985 at the Bough Beech visitor centre, welcoming visitors and helping with the running of the centre. She has been a member of the Trust for 42 years and, as a child, visited Tyland Barn when it was a working farm. She has a great deal of knowledge which she shares with visitors and is an enthusiastic volunteer who is always ready to help out at short notice.

Ros Clark & Brian Heselden
Ros and Brian volunteer at Reculver visitor centre helping with a variety of duties, family events and school groups. They also help with Rock Pooling events, Heritage open days and coastal walks. Ros has been involved at the centre since it opened in 1989 and Brian started to volunteer in 1995. Both of them enjoy passing on their knowledge to visitors and their support over the years has been invaluable.

Alicia Arthur
Alicia is a fully trained Wild about Gardens advisor and is always willing to take on a large number of garden visits, averaging over 10 every year, and helps at new advisor training events, often accompanying trainee volunteers on their first few visits.

Val Coxhead
Val started volunteering in the Tyland Barn and since 1999 has been part of the nature park volunteer team, helping to develop the park and maintain the grounds. She is also a regular volunteer at the elemental garden at Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve. She has a creative flair and has designed and created stained glass flower murals for Tyland Barn and has carved numerous animal sculptures in the nature park.

Mike Meakins
Mike volunteers with the People Engagement team at Tyland Barn, assisting with database management. He processes new volunteers’ details, prepares welcoming letters, and makes all necessary amendments to the database as well as helping with the office administration in the department.

Daphne Mills
Daphne joined as a volunteer in the 1980s, helping the newly-formed Marine Group of Kent Field Club with intertidal surveys which led to the formation of the Trust’s Shoresearch programme in 2003. Her extensive knowledge of Kent’s wildlife continually enhances not only Shoresearch, but also surveys on Local Wildlife Sites and nature reserves. Her photos of local wildlife have inspired others and have appeared in leaflets, training materials, as well as a number of publications.

Chris Fulcher, Sue Poyser, Phillip Knight, Paul Jakes, Nigel Jennings and Paul Hayter

Chris Fulcher
Chris supported the early intertidal surveys around Kent back in the 1980s, and continued to contribute his considerable knowledge and enthusiasm to the Trust’s new programme of intertidal surveys when Shoresearch was set up in 2003. He is particularly skilful at finding and identifying elusive fish and crustaceans harbouring under boulders and in rockpools.

Sue Poyser
Sue has volunteered in the offices at Tyland Barn since 2009, helping the Conservation team, Reserves team and Marketing department with geographical information system digital maps. She is a keen botanist and recorder for the Wildflower Society, the Kent Field Club and the Kent Botanical Recording Group.

Phillip Knight
Phillip has volunteered with the Trust since 2006 at the Romney Marsh Visitor Centre, and his areas of activity include gardening, general maintenance amongst others. He is a member of the Marsh Community Garden management team and is committed to developing the garden. He also manages the site if the officer in charge is not there and is a highly valued volunteer.

Paul Jakes
Paul is an experienced engineer and uses his expertise to the benefit of the Trust’s machines and tools, all of which require constant attention and maintenance.  He is a regular member of the work parties in West Kent reserves. His knowledge and love of wildlife is obvious and he is particularly adept at butterfly identification and surveying.

Nigel Jennings
Nigel is a hard-working and knowledgeable volunteer, qualified in brush cutting and chainsaw work. He is an active member of most West Kent work parties, particularly Queendown Warren where he has made a special contribution. He is also a member of the Road Verges team and a Group Leader for West Kent reserves.

Paul Hayter
Paul is a regular Green Team volunteer, having started working on woodland in the Blean Woods. Paul has been a key volunteer to the Blean Heritage Lottery Fund Project assisting with the delivery of quality archaeological survey work for South Blean Woods contributing to the Landscape History Project. He has also helped with biological surveying, offering his scientific background to survey reptiles at Hunstead Wood.

Sue Bradford, Celia Pain, John Llewellyn-Jones, Alan Ford, Jenny Jackson and Joy Gadsby

Sue Bradford
Sue has been Honorary Secretary of the Folkestone, Hythe and Dover Local Group for 20 years taking the minutes of committee meetings and dealing with correspondence, while for the past 13 years she has volunteered as Minutes Secretary of the Kent Wildlife Trust Local Groups Committee. She gives up her Saturday mornings to attend meetings and has produced detailed minutes which provide a valuable record of the work done by the committees of the Local Groups.

Celia Pain
Celia joined the Trust in 2006, to offer her assistance as a conchological expert and to contribute to the Shoresearch surveys that were being undertaken. Since then she has shown a great amount of enthusiasm and commitment by taking part in the majority of the Trust’s Shoresearch surveys, and playing a key role in several Shoresearch training events.

John Llewellyn-Jones
John has been a volunteer with the Trust since April 2006. He has brought passion and experience to the Shoresearch surveys over several years, contributing to around 30 events. He has helped to find and identify a wide diversity of marine species in the field, with a special interest and expertise in molluscs.

Alan Ford
Alan is one of the longest standing volunteers in West Kent. He has taken part in many activities on various reserves, including monitoring schemes for dormice, reptiles, amphibians and nesting birds. He regularly leads guided walks and moth evenings and is a great promoter of the Trust’s work throughout the county, particularly at Bough Beech, where he carries out weekly conservation management work on the reserve as well as leading working parties.

Jenny Jackson
Jenny began volunteering for the Trust 15 years ago and is now Honorary Warden at Park Gate Down where she carries out general warden duties, meeting visitors, and detailed monitoring of the rare monkey orchid and other orchid species on the reserve. She has supported the management programme, encourages other volunteers to join the conservation effort, and has given dedicated and conscientious long term service to the Trust.

Joy Gadsby
Joy first volunteered at Bough Beech Visitor Centre in the shop in November 1981 and, although only able to manage a sitting down job these days, she continues to do so and especially likes working on the tills.

Anne Newington, John Searle, Joseph O'Rourke, Peter Isaac, Stuart Dove and Tony Nuthall

Anne Newington

Anne has been a volunteer for the Trust for 10 years, working in the Dover area reserves, in particular developing the network of roadside nature reserves. She has assisted wardens with a variety of tasks and supports the conservation task programme throughout the year. She is a highly valued volunteer and is a great asset in welcoming newcomers to the group.

John Searle

John is an experienced and longstanding wildlife gardening advisor for the Wild About Gardens Award Scheme, visiting around 20 gardens each year and being on hand to train new advisors. In 2003 he became a road verge volunteer and currently monitors two sites in Canterbury, providing a comprehensive list of plants and informing the team of any changes or problems.

Joseph O’Rourke

Joe began volunteering 10 years ago doing general maintenance around Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve and buildings. He has been involved with the Reserve long before the Trust took over its management and has also been Treasurer for the Sevenoaks Local Group since its formation.

Peter Isaac

Peter has volunteered at East Kent nature reserves & RNRs for the last 10 years, supporting many wardens and conservation projects in delivering great wildlife wins over many years. More recently he has concentrated his work on the Historic Dover Downlands Project, restoring rare chalk grassland habitat. He supports the conservation task programme throughout the year and engages new volunteers.

Stuart Dove

Stuart has been a regular volunteer with the East Kent Green Team for nearly 10 years, working in the East Kent Downs area, the Ashford area, and in the Blean. He is a keen birdwatcher, a livestock checker at Broadham Down and carries out bird surveys for the BTO and toad surveys for KRAG.

Tony Nuthall

Tony has been a key member of the Orlestone Forest working group for 20 years, working on sites such as Burnt Oak Wood, Smallmans Wood and Longrope Wood. He has been the backbone of the Ashford area weekend Green Team for a considerable length of time and his skills gained from working for Ordinance Survey, have proved to be instrumental in working out boundaries for new acquisitions, particularly for the complex borders of the South Blean.

Andrew Green, Betsy Julian, Monica and Mike Wilson, Bill Hickmott, Stephanie Leslie and Colin Mayers

Andy Green

Andy has been a volunteer for over ten years in various maintenance roles at Tyland Barn and other centres, completing jobs which would have otherwise costed the Trust a considerable amount of money. He makes an invaluable contribution to keeping the centre safe and accessible for the public.

Betsy Julian

Besty has been volunteering at Bough Beech for 27 years and is dedicated to recruiting new members to the Trust. She is very modest about the work that she does, and despite a period of illness, continues to volunteer for the Trust and add to the 60 new members that she has already recruited.

Monica and Mike Wilson

Monica began volunteering for the Trust 15 years ago and Mike became a volunteer in 1994. Monica has a key role in the administration for the ‘Wildlife Gardening’ awards and gardening exhibitions at Tyland Barn. Mike leads a maintenance team to manage the Nature Park at Tyland Barn and manages the Elemental Garden at Sevenoaks. They both have a great deal of expertise which they give freely in support of Kent’s environment.

Bill Hickmott

Bill has volunteered with the Trust since 1997, helping to develop the gardens at Tyland Barn and Sevenoaks as well as personally donating many plants. He is a ‘Wild About Gardens’ Awards advisor and helps to train new advisors and last year visited 50 gardens competing for the Award.

Stephanie Leslie

Stephanie began volunteering for the Trust in May 2005, manning the front desk at the Romney Marsh Visitor Centre, welcoming and advising the wide range of visitors to the centre. She extols the virtues of the Trust, visitor centre and nature reserve and has given her time on Sundays every week for the past 5 years.

Colin Mayers

Colin has volunteered at the Reculver site for 20 years, helping out at family events and engaging young people in the work of the site, finding marine creatures to show them. He helps to record the history of the site and has an enthusiastic thirst for knowledge which helps inspire newer volunteers.

Don Hardwick, Hilary Colechin, Paul Witkowski, Christine Morgan, Jenny Gibb and Vernon Hucks

Don Hardwick
Don has been a member of the Darland Banks Green Team since it first started in 2001. He has knowledge and passion for local history which gives an additional aspect to the Darland Banks Reserve.

Hilary Colechin
Hilary has been recognised for her work volunteering in the Visitor Centre at Tyland Barn. She has supported the Visitor Centre Manager for 7 years and is an invaluable member of the team.

Paul Witkowski
Paul has volunteered for 6 years on East Kent Downland sites such as Broadham, Spong, Yockletts Bank and Blean sites including Hunstead Wood and the Broad Oak Reserve. He is a dedicated and hardworking member of the Green Team.

Christine Morgan
Christine has worked as a volunteer for the Trust’s Dover Area conservation team for the past decade. She has worked on the Lydden Temple Ewell National Nature Reserve and the growing network of Roadside Nature Reserves including Lydden Hill, Canterbury Road, Coldred Hill and Old Park Hill.

Jenny Gibb
Jenny has been a volunteer with the Kent Wildlife Trust since 2003, bringing various IT skills to the conservation department, streamlining the Contacts Database for storage of information about land owners and helping those who were less computer literate. In recent years Jenny has been involved with practical aspects of conservation, assisting in management and monitoring of Roadside Nature Reserves in West Kent.

Vernon Hucks
Vernon manages the Trust Library of photo images. He adds to them himself and uses professional photography skills where he feels there is a gap. Vernon has worked hard to keep standards high and keeps the library in order.

Edwina Kissick, Selwyn Dennis, Daniel Tuson, David Watson, Richard Jowett and Roger and Judy Hardy

Edwina Kissick
Edwina has been a member of the Kent Wildlife Trust since 1966. She is an active and well-known local figure and historian who is also a knowledgeable naturalist. Throughout her time as a volunteer she has helped the Trust to raise funds by supplying plants and cuttings to sell at plant stalls at Tyland Barn.

Selwyn Dennis
Selwyn has been a volunteer with Kent Wildlife Trust for ten years. He has volunteered with the Green Team and has taken on the role of Honorary Warden at Queendown Warren turning in excellent reports on the adder and bird life on the reserve, as well as lending a hand with practical tasks on many other reserves.

Daniel Tuson
Daniel has been volunteering with the Trust for ten years and is an enthusiastic, highly skilled volunteer supporting the Trust’s chalk downland conservation work in the Dover area. He has worked on the Lydden Temple Ewell National Nature Reserve and the growing network of Roadside Nature Reserves including Lydden Hill, Canterbury Road, Coldred Hill and Old Park Hill.

David Watson
David is the Warden for the Bluebell Hill Roadside Nature Reserve, a verge which offers a riot of colour during the summer months. He is very active with the mammal society, having taken on several dormouse monitoring projects, been involved with numerous small mammal surveys and has been employed by environmental consultants.

Richard Jowett
Richard has been a Trust member since 1995 and a volunteer since 1996. He is Chairman of the Maidstone Local Group and leads walks in the area as well as being a regular volunteer at Tyland Barn.

Roger and Judy Hardy
Roger and Judy work as Broadham Down volunteers checking livestock, carrying out Green Team tasks and contributing their time as emergency helpers. They have ensured over the years that Broadham Down has been turned into an area of conservation.

Peter Bassett, Derek Chick, Bob Hope, Brian Lewis, Ian Shepherd and Penny Woodgate

Peter Bassett
Peter joined the West Kent Group’s Committee in May 1991, becoming Chairman in 1992 and Treasurer in 1994. For the last two years or so Peter has undertaken a similar role for the Bough Beech Visitor Centre and has spent time there replenishing the bird seed feeders and keeping an eye on the refurbishments of the centre reporting back to the Group’s Committee on building progress.

Derek Chick
Derek has dedicated much of his life to the cause of conserving the wild plants and animals of Kent, particularly the downland wildlife of Lydden Temple Ewell. He is a driving force within the Reserve’s Conservation Volunteer Team, working on chalk grassland restoration and maintenance on both the National Nature Reserve and the growing network of Roadside Nature Reserves in the Lydden-Dover area

Bob Hope
Bob is a highly committed reserve Honorary Warden with all the key attributes of a good conservation volunteer, making an outstanding contribution to both Sandwich and Pegwell Bay National Nature Reserve and to Ham Fen Nature Reserve. He undertakes a variety of conservation tasks and has co-ordinated rare plant monitoring, as well as the weekly monitoring of butterflies, Odonata and diurnal moths.

Brian Lewis
Brian has been a regular and effective volunteer with the Conservation Team for at least six years, reviewing planning applications and assisting with the assessment of local plans. His professional planning background has been a major asset to the Trust, as has his commitment, patience and good humour.

Ian Shepherd
Ian has volunteered for the Trust for over thirteen years and has been an Honorary Warden at South Swale Local Nature Reserve since 2002. He visits the reserve weekly to monitor birds, protect the site from human threats and disturbance and to check the livestock. He has also conducted monthly bird counts for the Wetland Bird Survey and organises regular beach clean-ups each year.

Penny Woodgate
Penny is a member of Maidstone Local Group and has served on their Committee for over twenty years, during which time she has been responsible for the catering arrangements of the Group. These include providing, preparing and serving tea, coffee and biscuits at each indoor meeting, with assistance from other members.

Geoff Orton, Jill Richards, Richard Swann, Bob Newington, Helen Nicholson and Pete and Lynn Flower

Geoff Orton
Geoff is one of the Trust’s longest standing volunteers, having been involved since 1969 with the Medway Local Group. He serves on the Wildlife Awareness and Education Committee, bringing his field skills and knowledge of North Kent as well as his understanding of the higher education system and its students, many of whom support the Trust as volunteers.

Jill Richards
Jill works in a supporting role at the reception of Tyland Barn. Her cheerful disposition and willingness to do whatever task is to hand makes her a popular member of the Admin team.

Richard Swann
Richard has been an essential part of the Conservation Team for the last five years, sharing his passion and commitment to nature conservation to help establish the Trust’s involvement in Local Community Strategies. He has particularly taken forward the Trust’s policy work on climate change and represents them on the South East Climate Change Partnership.

Bob Newington
Bob has been involved with the conservation management of Lydden Temple National Nature Reserve for many years, both as a task volunteer and, for the last ten years, as Honorary Warden.
He is a tireless and indispensable member of the team and a superb ambassador for the Trust within the local community, helping to promote the aims and work of the Trust.

Helen Nicholson
Helen has been volunteering for the Trust for over ten years, increasing her commitment from one day a week to working with the Trust during an interim period in her career. For the past three years she has been a stalwart on East Kent tasks, occasionally being the sole worker, battling rain, wind and snow.

Pete & Lynne Flower
Pete and Lynne met during the late ‘80s when Pete was leading work parties for Kent Wildlife Trust at sites such as Parsonage Wood and Chiddingstone Causeway. Since then they have been an inseparable team undertaking huge amounts of voluntary work at several nature reserves in the Tonbridge area and further afield and becoming a focal point for hundreds of volunteers over the years.

Myrtle Butcher, Sylvia Friend, Ruth Goldstraw, Mark Quested, Geoff Rockley and Geoff Maytum

Myrtle Butcher
Myrtle volunteers at Tyland Barn on a regular basis; she often helps out with events and has tutored large numbers of schools groups. She also helped at the Kent County Show and was a volunteer assessor for the Gardening for Wildlife Awards Scheme.

Sylvia Friend
Sylvia is an enthusiastic member of the Lydden Temple Ewell nature reserve task team and is also an honorary warden for the Lydden Village Network of Roadside Nature Reserves.

Ruth Goldstraw
Ruth has volunteered for the Trust in an impressive array of activities. She has been a central figure at Oare Marshes Nature Reserves, led the Canterbury Local Group, chaired the Local Groups Committee, been a Trustee and been a valuable member of the Marketing Committee.

Mark Quested
Mark has volunteered at Tyland Barn on Saturdays and Sundays for over 8 years. He has also been on the Kent County Show sales team.

Geoff Rockley and Geoff Maytum
These two long standing individuals are independent however they are inextricably linked in the minds of Trust staff whom they have helped over a period of approximately 15 years on numerous reserves and roadside nature reserves. They work extremely efficiently as a pair and equally well separately or as part of the larger Green Team of West Kent.

Roger Bailey, Charles and Lesley Boxer, Ted Coleman, Alan Cooper and Judith Shorter

Roger Bailey
Roger has been Treasurer at Bough Beech Visitor Centre since 1991. He has managed the finances of this important site impeccably and has kept the Centre Manager informed of the finances at all times and produced up to date reports of sales, donations and memberships whenever they are required.

Charles and Lesley Boxer
Charles and Lesley were the first volunteer roadside verge wardens appointed to the Roadside Nature Reserves (RNR) scheme in 1995 and have continued to provide their commitment and support to the project. They are an example of how practical help and monitoring carried out in the community can make a real difference to the quality and integrity of RNR in Kent.

Ted Coleman
Ted has been Honorary Warden of the Cromers Wood Reserve since the Trust acquired it in 1989 and his skills as a wildlife photographer are of national standing and widely recognised. He has used his knowledge of the North Kent downs and marshes to record this landscape and its wildlife and he has done much to promote a wider understanding of the very special qualities of these landscapes and their wildlife.

Alan Cooper
Alan started as a member of the Trust’s Green Team working on a variety of sites around East Kent and rapidly acquired a range of practical skills, including brush cutter and chainsaw operation, which have been applied with vigour. He became the Honorary Warden for Orlestone Forest, Smallmans and Burnt Oak Woods over ten years ago and has worked on habitat restoration and maintenance management.

Judith Shorter
Judith has worked tirelessly for Kent Wildlife Trust since 1994. She served her apprenticeship in the Tyland Barn Visitor Centre, talking to visitors about the work of the Trust, promoting membership, advising and informing on general wildlife issues as well as serving refreshments and selling souvenirs.

Mary Parker, Fred Booth, Ron Neath, Joyce Pitt and Chris Wood

Mary Parker
Mary was an active Chairman of the Conservation Committee and also used her auditing skill to invaluable effect as Chairman and, latterly, as a member of the Audit Committee during her time as a Trustee. She regularly volunteered as a Green Team member and worked on many reserves.

Fred Booth
Fred has been actively involved with Trust as Trustee and volunteer, making an immense contribution across the whole county towards its understanding of Kent’s wildlife. He is a very knowledgeable naturalist with a particular interest in marine conservation, among many other areas.

Ron Neath
Ron served on the Conservation Committee as a representative of the NDU and farming interests generally, bringing with him a broad knowledge of Kent, a knowledge of the perspectives of the Kentish farmer and considerable tact and judgement in drawing together the interests of farmers and conservationists.

Joyce Pitt
Joyce has served on the Trust’s Conservation Committee and Council for many years. She has an immense botanical knowledge from fungi through to orchids and an encyclopaedic knowledge of their occurrence in Kent.

Chris Wood
Chris has provided an excellent maintenance service for the Trust at Tyland Barn for several years. His volunteering support gives the Trust access to skills of a very high order and allows the Trust’s resources to be spent on their charitable objectives rather than on maintenance of buildings.

Joanna and Michael Overton-Fox, Ray Philo, Rod Smith, Martin Wills and Vida Madel

Joanna and Michael Overton-Fox
Joanna and Michael are the retiring joint Chairs of West Kent Local Group. They have led an active committed local group with “charm and concern for each Committee member”, regularly attending local group meetings at Tyland Barn and have organized speakers and meeting arrangements seamlessly.

Ray Philo
Ray has made a long, reliable and unsung contribution to one of the lower profile tasks in the Trust. He has vetted planning applications received by the Trust as a non-statutory consultee, prepared responses to the Local Authorities and fielded many telephone calls from the public, providing extremely vital assistance.

Rod Smith
Rod has served as a Council Member, Chairman and Member of Conservation Committee, as well as being an active surveyor of sites for their bird interest and doing much to contribute to the Trust’s recognition of the ornithological interest of its reserves.

Martin Wills
Martin is a long term, regular Green Team volunteer who has made an immense contribution to the management of the Trust’s reserves over the last 20 years. He was one of the first to be trained in the use of chainsaws and brush cutters and as such has been one of those responsible for the great increase in the amount of habitat management work done by the green team in recent years.

Vida Madel
Vida has been an East Kent volunteer for many years, supporting the reserve tasks at least once a week. She will tackle just about anything asked of her and is a warm welcoming work party volunteer and a great asset to group cohesion.

Helen Hudson, Keith Hudson, Valerie Andrews and Krysia Baczala

Hilda Frankel, Gill Saunders, Frank Clayton, Tim and Margaret Plowright and Roy Coles

Hilda Frankel
A life member since 1972, Hilda worked tirelessly on the West Kent Group until she retired from the Committee last year. Over many years she has actively raised money by selling goods at shows, fairs and open day, and her enthusiasm and her courteous, helpful, kindly manner were a great benefit to and advertisement for the Trust.

Gill Saunders
Gill has been active as a volunteer at the Bough Beech visitor centre and in the Wildlife Awareness team at Tyland Barn. At Bough Beech she is a committed and reliable member of the team that greets visitors to the Centre in all weathers and at Tyland Barn she performs innumerable tasks and has developed considerable and valuable IT expertise.

Frank Clayton
Frank is an active and hardworking green team volunteer in West Kent whose efforts, stamina and skills over many years have made a significant contribution to their work on local reserves.

Tim Plowright and Margaret Plowright
Bringing their individual skills, energy, vitality and good humour to the support of the Trust in both East and West Kent, Tim and Margaret combine to make a formidable team, fundraising,  working industriously with the green team and publicising the work of the Trust. Their distinctive and modest approach has contributed to the strength of the Trust over many years.

Roy Coles
Roy’s contribution to establishing the reserve at Bough Beech is a by-word within the Trust. As a mover, shaker and fixer he has made an inimitable contribution to the establishment of one of the Trust’s most publicly visible reserves and to raising the Trust’s profile in West Kent.

David House and Joan Medill

John Pennington and Paul Lazarus

Martin Sheppard and Kathy Ward