It is with great sadness that we said goodbye to Kevin Davies, Senior Wildlife Trust Officer based on Gower. He has gone to work for the Corporation of London at Burnham Beeches in a role that expands and develops his career and allows him to experience working with a very generous budget and seemingly unlimited resources!
Kev should be extremely proud of what he achieved in his 5 years with the Trust. He had some unfinished grant work and a number of complicated challenges to deal with when he started but he rose to the task and turned the situation around.
5 years on we have some new reserves, a whole new Estates Team, a very well managed tree safety programme, better organised tools and equipment, and better trained staff, not to mention the improved access on many reserves in his patch. The combination of his experience in the private and voluntary sector was very useful to the Trust and he was always ready to contribute in staff and strategic meetings. His experience as a rugby coach also made him a popular leader of group activities, and his social skills were legendary!
We are not able to replace Kev at the moment but Paul Thornton, our Reserves Manager based on Gower, is covering some of the work that Kev did. Paul manages the Estates Team and is well acquainted with the reserves in Gower, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot as well as getting a good overview of our other reserves through helping the other Wildlife Trust Officers with the trickier practical and tree work! Paul’s contact number is 07966 564372.