Centre manager - Bel Deering

Mallydams Centre near Hastings is made up of three parts; a 55 acre wood, an education centre and a wildlife centre, they all work together to form a truly unique centre.

Bel is responsible for overseeing the running of the centre, this can mean anything from managing conservation tasks in the woodland, planning fundraising events, helping to promote animal welfare through education or managing the staff and volunteers at the centre. She says:
 

I love the challenge. My job is to make all the different parts of the site and centre work together, it's like parts of a big puzzle and I have to fit the puzzle pieces together. It's very rewarding to support my staff and volunteers to improve animal welfare.

Puzzle pieces

Wildlife

The wildlife centre provides care and rehabilitation for sick and injured wildlife. It’s Bel’s responsibility to make sure there is enough money in the pot to provide the animals with the care they need, provide solutions to maintenance problems as they arise and deal with the day to day management of people.

“We are lucky we have great staff and volunteers here, they are very skilled and dedicated,” says Bel.

Education

Education at Mallydams can mean evening badger watches or weekend sessions for a local youth club. Bel tells us more about some of the key messages they aim to get across at the centre:
 

We produce trails, games and activities with the right messages about animal welfare and environmental issues. We encourage care and respect for  animals and give them the inspiration to help animals at home and in their local area.

Bel promotes and organises an education activity every month, for young and old; as well as fundraising events and residential courses.
 

Woodland 

The 55 acres of woodland at Mallydams is managed as a nature reserve to benefit people and wildlife. The woodland provides opportunities to get people out into the woods and see wildlife in its natural habitat.

It also provides a safe place to release some of the wildlife rehabilitated at the centre and a natural habitat for many of our native woodland creatures such as dormice, grass snakes, adders and even marsh tits.

“Maintaining and improving the wood for wildlife is a huge undertaking and we have achieved a lot to get the wood to this stage. Credit is due to our volunteers who work incredibly hard out in the woods,” says Bel.

Find out more about the work we do at Mallydams Wood Wildlife Centre