Helen Gibson

Tyland Barn Nature Park and Garden Volunteer

Helen began volunteering in March 2022. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she decided to pursue a career change and was drawn to the work of the Trust, which inspired her to get involved as a volunteer. Her first day was spent assisting with a pond-dipping session during an open day at Tyland Barn, and she has been volunteering there every Monday since. Helen also volunteers at Leeds Castle as a habitat management volunteer and has recently completed a degree in Horticulture!

Volunteering highlights

Helen takes great pride in the team’s achievements at Tyland Barn, especially in the Plant, Sow, Grow area and the Hibernaculum and watching these spaces transform season after season. Recently, Helen has delighted in spotting orchids emerging and, for the first time in her experience at Tyland Barn, grass snakes - a wonderful reminder of the positive impact their efforts are making.

Helen’s top tips

Helen’s advice is simple: “Just go for it.” Whether you thrive in group settings or prefer working independently, there is a volunteer role to suit you. The fresh air and sense of community can also provide a fantastic boost to your mental wellbeing. Helen especially appreciates the welcoming environment, where there is no pressure to conform - you can just be yourself.

Making an impact towards a Wilder Kent

The team manages the gardens in a nature-friendly way by using organic practices, creating sheltered areas, removing weeds manually and establishing designated off-limit areas to allow nature to thrive undisturbed.

Helen is passionate about conducting surveys around Tyland Barn to track how the team’s efforts are increasing biodiversity. A major win is the significant increase in reptiles sighted at Tyland Barn over the years!

Wilder perspectives

At the beginning of December, representatives from Kent Wildlife Trust and the local community gave a talk at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory to our members to illuminate the proposed Sea Link project and its potential impact on our area.

The Sea Link development, a proposed cable linking Suffolk and Kent, not only directly impacts our census area but will impact the internationally important Pegwell Bay, a recognised site for birds and mammals. We wanted to keep our members properly informed - especially after the damage caused by the previous Nemo Link development which has left a long-lasting scar across the salt marsh.

We also wanted to ensure that our members learned of the nearby development on Minster Marshes, a key area where birds from Pegwell Bay go at high tide when they must look for alternative feeding and roosting sites.

The Stour valley is an important wildlife corridor for all types of flora and fauna (stretching from Ashford through Canterbury to Sandwich and Pegwell Bay). Therefore, any development along this area will have an adverse effect on nature.

The detailed talk updated our members on not just the proposed developments but also on Sea Link’s newest changes to their previously published plans that most people were unaware of. Lots of questions were asked at the end of the talk and the subsequent appreciative feedback, meant many could take action themselves and raise their concerns directly to the Secretary of State.

Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory have since again written to Sea Link and the Secretary of State, voicing our new and continued concerns about the development and urging them to rethink their plans.