I was born in Kenya and my family emigrated to England when I was 10. Schooling was in North London and then a degree in horticulture. I worked in the marketing departments of agricultural crop protection companies and then moved to Norfolk, which was the HQ for a german business. That sparked my interest in conservation and biodiversity. 15 years later I changed industries to remain in Norfolk and worked in corporate affairs/PR for a British animal feed company. Redundancy in the 2009 financial crisis led to an office manager role at a family run brewery which turned out to be a new learning experience. After we moved to Norwich and I retired, I began volunteering for bar duty at the Norfolk & Norwich Beer Festival as a way to keep in touch with the many publicans I had got to know. I now also volunteer for New Routes Integration, a charity that helps asylum seekers and refugees that are placed in Norwich.

We moved to a home very close to Bewick House and as I reduced my working days at the brewery, NWT was the logical place to enquire about a volunteer role.

My first activity in 2015 was to transpose the responses from bi-annual visitor surveys at the reserves onto ‘Survey Monkey’, so that the survey co-ordinator could produce reports. Word soon got around the office that I was about to complete a survey and before I could look for a volunteer role somewhere else, I found myself in membership with Lucy and her colleagues until the next visitor survey. Inputting gift aid declarations and envelope stuffing membership mail outs is not exciting but it contributes to the Trust’s income.

I have also helped Gemma and Helen collating plant species data from projects such as the recent one on Norfolk Commons as well as helping the fundraising team

Volunteering at NWT helps me get out of the house and I have learnt much more about the activities of the NWT as well as getting to know team members and other volunteers. It has also broadened my knowledge of the Norfolk landscape and its biodiversity.

If you have an interest in conservation and helping to protect and develop biodiversity in Norfolk, then NWT is your best starting point.