Thursday 31 May 2012

Saxons coming to Wildwood

The Saxons are coming to Wildwood!

Wildwood is getting ready to face a Saxon invasion when Regia Anglorum, one of Britain's best Saxon re-enactment groups will be at the park on the 9th & 10th of June for their annual Saxon re-enactment weekend.

Visitors will be able to step back in time and visit Wychurst, the group's authentic Saxon Burgh (village) nestled in the depths of the forest at Wildwood and experience how our Saxon ancestors lived circa 1000AD.

Wychurst - literally meaning "the village in the wood" - is a Saxon Manorial Burgh, reconstructed by Regia Anglorum according to the best available evidence. The group have spared no trouble or expense to ensure that the site and its environs are as close to the original as possible. The Burgh features a spectacular Longhall along with other buildings and is exactly the kind of place to which local people would have retreated when the Vikings sacked the city of Canterbury over a thousand years ago.

And it's about to happen again!

The site will be open to visitors from on 9th & 10 June from 10.30am to 4.30pm. During the day, there will be a range of crafts on display both inside the Longhall and in the various artisan's tents inside and outside of the Burgh. You will be able to see warriors at training during the morning before the big event at 3pm when the Vikings will raid the Burgh! The Viking raid is a competitive open ended battle and either side might win!

Costs
Entry to Whychurst will be £3.50 for 15yrs and over (under 15yrs free). Wildwood entry fees or membership must also be paid to be allowed access to the event.

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www.regia.org

What is Regia Anglorum?

You might say, That's a funny name.

Pronounced with a hard 'G', as in "gate", 'Regia Anglorum' is vulgate Latin and means "The Kingdoms of the English", a term used by Early MediƦval chroniclers to refer to the English state, just as we might say "Great Britain" today. It implies no particular boundary, either Geographically or spiritually.

Founded in 1986, Regia Anglorum is a society based in the UK but with a rapidly growing membership across the Atlantic, having members in Florida, California, Oregon, Ohio and Maryland. We are a group of people from all walks of life who share a common interest in the period that used to be called The Dark Ages, but is now more accurately known as the Early Mediaeval Period - roughly from the time of Alfred the Great to Richard the Lionheart - although much of our work aims to recreate a cross-section of British life around the turn of the first millennium. It was a time when Britain was host to many peoples - Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Danes, Norse, Cymru, Viking raiders and even some Normans. Regia portrays all of these and more.

We are proud of our strong stance on authentic portrayal and have acquired a considerable academic reputation for accuracy. This we maintain and augment by seeing not only the wood, but the trees as well!

We feel that we do our ancestors no service at all if we portray them as mindlessly violent and their lives as nasty, brutish and short. England was the jewel of Europe; rich in gold and silver and self-sufficient in all aspects of life. Whilst life continued much as it had done for over a thousand years, politically the English state was moving towards a form of democratic monarchy, only to be brought up short one day in October 1066. But that, as they say, is another story...

Wychust

Alone of all re-enactment societies, Regia Anglorum owns a permanent site. Situated about sixty miles from central London and in a patch of secluded woodland near Canterbury in Kent, We are constructing a fortified manor house from the Late Anglo-Saxon period.

Wychurst is a fortified English manor – properly, a Manorial Burgh. The ditch-and-bank encloses an acre, at the heart of which is our Longhall that dominates the tree-girt enclosure and the sheer scale of the building just takes your breath away. It is the only building of its kind in Britain.

An Ongoing Project

The site was cleared in 2001 and work on the Longhall commenced at Easter the following year. At the end of 2004, the main structure of this 20m × 10m × 10m building was completed and before the onset of winter, we had clad most of the roof with softwood sarking boards, awaiting the first 10,000 hand-cleft oak shingles for delivery in 2005. That year saw the completion of the porches and the commencement of the huge task of nailing on the shingles. Walling advanced well, too. In 2006, the front roof was completed and shingling advanced about a third of the way up the back roof. The walls were completely infilled, doors and hinges were fitted and our hall was secure for the first time. 2007 saw the completion of shingling, some 18,000 eventually finding their way onto the roof.

It is an impressive sight and is certainly the largest reconstructed early medieval building in private hands in Europe. Built entirely of English oak, all of which has been harvested from trees growing in Kent, (many within a couple of miles of the site), the site in general and the Longhall in particular, has been conceived, planned, purchased, designed and constructed by our members. What you see is the result of many long hours of research, discussion and the practical application of skills with which our ancestors would have felt at home.

 

 

Fiona Paterson
Wildwood Trust

Tel 01227 712 111

fiona@wildwoodtrust.org

www.wildwoodtrust.org

 

 

Friday 25 May 2012

Rare white squirrel discovered at Wildwood

Wildwood is already home to some of our most spectacular native wildlife, but we are now home to a particularly rare specimen, a beautiful wild albino squirrel.

The pure white squirrel is in actual fact a common grey but his unusual colour makes him quite rare and easy to spot in the woodlands. There have already been several sightings around the parks' wild boar and wild horse enclosures.

Albino squirrels are a rare oddity of nature, with the condition being thought by wildlife experts to affect just one in 100,000 animals.

This is compounded by their lack of camouflage which makes them stand out so they are easy prey. Sadly, many albino squirrels are taken by predators at an early age, giving them less chance to breed.

Albinism is caused by a rare genetic mutation which limits the amount of a pigment called melanin that the body produces. Animals with albinism are born with little or no pigmentation in their fur, skin or eyes, resulting in very pale or pure white fur and often distinctive pink eyes. Interestingly, Wildwood is already home to pure black squirrels, which are caused by melanism - the opposite of albinism.

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Fiona Paterson
Marketing & Press officer
Wildwood Trust

e-mail:
fiona@wildwoodtrust.org
Tel: 01227 712111
www.wildwoodtrust.org

Follow us on Twitter Find us on Facebook

If you would like to receive our monthly newsletter then sign up on:
http://www.wildwoodtrust.org/news.htm#events

Wildwood Trust
Herne Common
Herne Bay
Kent
CT6 7LQ

Registered Charity No 1093702

Wildwood Trust is Kent's unique 'Woodland Discovery Park', a visitor attraction with a difference.

Wildwood is not only the best place to bring the family for a day out, but it is also a bold and innovative conservation charity, dedicated to saving our native wildlife from extinction.

Wildwood Trust's vision is to bring back our true 'wildwood', a unique new way of restoring Britain's land to its natural state. This involves releasing large wild herbivores and developing conservation grazing systems to restore natural ecological processes to help Britain team with wildlife again.

The Wildwood 'Woodland Discovery Park' is an ideal day out for all the family where you can come see British Wildlife past and present. Wildwood offers its members and visitors a truly inspirational way to learn about the natural history of Britain by actually seeing the wildlife that once lived here.

Set in a sublime 38 acres of Ancient Woodland, Wildwood offers visitors a truly unique experience where you can see a wide range of British species from our past and present. See wolves, lynx, beaver, red squirrels, foxes, owls, deer, otters and many more as you make your way around our natural woodland setting.

Wildwood Trust runs a highly successful programme of Conservation Projects - we are the UK's leading experts in rescuing and re-establishing colonies of Britain's most threatened mammal, the water vole. Wildwood Trust has pioneered the use of ancient wild horses to restore nature reserve. Wildwood Trust has been at the forefront of efforts to re-establish the European Beaver back in Britain where they belong. European Beaver have been proven to help manage water ways to bring back a huge range of plants, insects and animals.

Wednesday 23 May 2012

Lady golfers’ donation helps local conservation charity

The Wildwood Trust is thrilled to have received a donation from the lady members of the Ridge Golf Club, near Maidstone, Kent.

The ladies, led by their captain Ann Watts, chose Wildwood as their charity and visited the wildlife park and conservation charity near Canterbury, Kent, to learn more about the conservation work done by the trust before organising a range of novel ways to raise money.

Ann Watts said "Fundraising took many forms, there was a charity bunker on the course during the summer and £1 was collected every time a player landed in that bunker. We held raffles and tombolas and devised Wildwood-themed activities such as "Name the Wolf" and "Where did the Red Squirrel bury his nuts?"

The ladies hard work paid off, with an amazing £1,100 raised for the trust.

"We are thrilled with this amazing donation; the ladies have really pulled out all the stops to raise funds for our conservation work. The money will greatly contribute towards our work to save British Wildlife." commented Beth Flowers, Wildwood's Fund Raising Manager.

Ann Watts said, "I had no hesitation in selecting the Wildwood Trust as my chosen charity. I have previous experience of working with the Trust and wanted others to see the fantastic work that they do for British wildlife. I also wanted to support a small, local charity."

The donation was presented by Ann and some of the other lady members of the club to Steve Kirk and Claire Wright of Wildwood and will be used to support the trust's conservation projects to save threatened British animals such as the water vole and red squirrel.

*********end**********

Fiona Paterson
Marketing & Press officer
Wildwood Trust

e-mail:
fiona@wildwoodtrust.org
Tel: 01227 712111
www.wildwoodtrust.org

Follow us on Twitter Find us on Facebook

If you would like to receive our monthly newsletter then sign up on:
http://www.wildwoodtrust.org/news.htm#events

Wildwood Trust
Herne Common
Herne Bay
Kent
CT6 7LQ

Registered Charity No 1093702

Wildwood Trust is Kent's unique 'Woodland Discovery Park', a visitor attraction with a difference.

Wildwood is not only the best place to bring the family for a day out, but it is also a bold and innovative conservation charity, dedicated to saving our native wildlife from extinction.

Wildwood Trust's vision is to bring back our true 'wildwood', a unique new way of restoring Britain's land to its natural state. This involves releasing large wild herbivores and developing conservation grazing systems to restore natural ecological processes to help Britain team with wildlife again.

The Wildwood 'Woodland Discovery Park' is an ideal day out for all the family where you can come see British Wildlife past and present. Wildwood offers its members and visitors a truly inspirational way to learn about the natural history of Britain by actually seeing the wildlife that once lived here.

Set in a sublime 38 acres of Ancient Woodland, Wildwood offers visitors a truly unique experience where you can see a wide range of British species from our past and present. See wolves, lynx, beaver, red squirrels, foxes, owls, deer, otters and many more as you make your way around our natural woodland setting.

Wildwood Trust runs a highly successful programme of Conservation Projects - we are the UK's leading experts in rescuing and re-establishing colonies of Britain's most threatened mammal, the water vole. Wildwood Trust has pioneered the use of ancient wild horses to restore nature reserve. Wildwood Trust has been at the forefront of efforts to re-establish the European Beaver back in Britain where they belong. European Beaver have been proven to help manage water ways to bring back a huge range of plants, insects and animals.

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Wildwood welcomes new fox cub

Wildwood is pleased to welcome Sasha, our new red fox cub.

Sasha, a young female aged around 10 weeks, was rescued after her den was destroyed. Her mother had vanished and is likely to have been killed on the busy road nearby.

Knowing that she was too small to survive in the wild, the keeper team took her in as a very young cub and have been hand rearing her until she was old enough to join the other foxes at the park. Sasha's arrival now brings to the total number of red foxes to four.

Sasha's keeper Chris Jewell said "The area that Sasha was found in is known to be home to badgers, and badgers sometimes prey on young foxes, so with her mother gone, she might not have lasted long in the wild. She's is a fantastic fox, very young and excitable and is extremely keen to meet the other foxes at Wildwood."

Sasha is now on display in Wildwood's specially designed red fox enclosure and is just one of the huge range of British animals that can be seen at the Wildwood Discovery Park, for more information visit the website at www.wildwoodtrust.org or telephone 01227 712 111

Wildwood is an ideal day out for all the family where you can come 'nose to nose' with British Wildlife. Wildwood offers its members and visitors a truly inspirational way to learn about the natural history of Britain by actually seeing the wildlife that once lived here, like the wolf, beaver, red squirrel, wild boar and many more.

Wildwood is situated close to Canterbury, just off the A291 between Herne Bay and Canterbury.

 

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Images attached

FACTS - Red Fox Vulpes vulpes

Recognition:

Reddish orange fur, small dog sized; thick bushy tail in winter
Head/body length: average 67-72cm for males; 62-67cm for females; tail about 40cm
Weight: average 6-7kg for males; 5-6kg for females.

General Ecology:

A highly adaptable species, found in nearly all habitats from salt marshes and sand dunes to the tops of mountains. In Britain, more than elsewhere in Europe, foxes have also adapted to life in urban surroundings.

Foxes hold territories, the size of which depends on habitat; they can be as small as 0.2 square kilometres in urban areas or up to 40 square kilometres in hill country. Each territory is occupied by a fox family group. These often consist of a pair - dog fox and vixen - and their cubs. However, in areas where foxes are not persecuted and where there is a plentiful supply of food, a family group may contain several adults.

Foxes have a very wide and varied diet. On salt marshes they eat crabs and dead seabirds, while in upland regions carrion may be important, particularly during the winter months. In lowland rural areas small mammals, especially field voles and rabbits, are the major source of food, with earthworms, beetles, fruit (particularly blackberries) and small birds also being eaten.

Urban foxes glean large amounts of food. Much of this is deliberately supplied by local householders, and is supplemented by scavenging from dustbins, birdtables and compost heaps. Unlike rural foxes, those living in some urban areas eat many small birds and feral pigeons.

Usually only one vixen in a group produces cubs, once a year in the spring. Litters average four to five cubs which are born blind and deaf in a den (called an earth). The earth may be dug by the foxes, or they may enlarge a rabbit burrow or use holes made by other animals. In urban areas cubs are often born under garden sheds. A vixen stays in the earth with her cubs for the first two weeks of their lives. At about four weeks old, usually in late April or early May, cubs begin to come into the open, when they are often seen by city householders.

Foxes generally do not live very long; although they have been recorded up to nine years old in the wild, most survive only one or two years.

Conservation:

Foxes have little legal protection. In some areas they are subjected to much persecution including shooting, hunting, being snared and dug out with terriers and caught with lurchers (fast, long-legged dogs). Self-locking snares and gin traps, both of which were once used to catch foxes, have been outlawed. Free running snares are legal, but they must be inspected at least once a day. These humanitarian provisions are the sole protection received by foxes.

Despite their lack of protection foxes are widespread and abundant. The success of the fox is due to its adaptability and it is in no need of active conservation measures. There remain about 190 fox hunts in England and Wales, but these probably kill a small proportion of foxes compared to those captured in snares and killed by other means. In the early 1980s many foxes were killed each year for their fur, most of which was exported to West Germany. However, with the decline in fur prices, this trade has decreased substantially.

Fiona Paterson

Press Officer

Wildwood Trust

e-mail: fiona@wildwoodtrust.org

Tel: 01227 712111

www.wildwoodtrust.org

Wildwood Trust

Herne Common

Herne Bay

Kent

CT6 7LQ

Registered Charity No 1093702

Wildwood Trust is Kent's unique 'Woodland Discovery Park', a visitor attraction with a difference.

Wildwood is not only the best place to bring the family for a day out, but it is also a bold and innovative new charity, backed by the UK's leading wildlife conservationists. As a new charity Wildwood needs everyone's support in its mission to save our native and once native wildlife from extinction.

Wildwood Trust's vision is to bring back our true 'wildwood', a unique new way of restoring Britain's land to its natural state. This involves releasing large wild herbivores and developing conservation grazing systems to restore natural ecological processes to help Britain team with wildlife again.

The Wildwood 'Woodland Discovery Park' is an ideal day out for all the family where you can come 'nose to nose' with British Wildlife. Wildwood offers its members and visitors a truly inspirational way to learn about the natural history of Britain by actually seeing the wildlife that once lived here.

Set in a sublime 38 acres of Ancient Woodland, Wildwood offers visitors a truly unique experience. Come Nose to Nose with our secretive badgers, experience what it is like to be hunted by a real live pack of wolves, watch a charging wild boar or track down a beaver in his lodge.

Wildwood Trust runs a highly successful programme of Conservation Projects

- we are the UK's leading experts in rescuing and re-establishing colonies of Britain's most threatened mammal, the water vole. Wildwood Trust has pioneered the use of ancient wild horses to restore nature reserve. Wildwood Trust has been at the forefront of efforts to re-establish the European Beaver back in Britain where they belong. European Beaver have been proven to help manage water ways to bring back a huge range of plants, insects and animals.

Thursday 3 May 2012

Wildwood events & School holidays

Wildwood Spring Events - book now to avoid disappointment

Spring events at Wildwood

To book any event please call 01227 712 111

 

Sunday 6th May - Hare's Moon Night Tour

See our animals under the moonlight on a guided tour to coincide with the full moon. 
7.30pm-10pm. £25 per person (min age 10yrs). Must book.


Sunday 8th May –
The Killing Fields at the Brighton Festival

Vanessa Redgrave and Carlo Nero discuss the Killing Fields on the BBC

The Killing Fields is a new documentary by Carlo Nero that explores the fragile relationship between wildlife, land, taxation and law in Britain and Europe. Making a powerful case for sweeping reforms, it argues that the only long-term solution to our conservation crisis is to put real value on nature's assets.

Wildwood Trust members have the chance to meet Vanessa Redgrave this Sunday when the film is launching the Brighton Festival.
Vanessa has invited Wildwood's members to join her with her son, film director Carlo Nero and Wildwood's own Peter Smith, for a special screening of the film. This will be followed by a panel discussion chaired by Prof Sir Richard Jolly, United Nations & UNESCO, with contributors to the Film including: Economist Fred Harrison, Environmental Lawyer Polly Higgins and  Farmer & Landowner Dr Duncan Pickard.

The event will be held in the Brighton Dome Concert Hall Sunday 6th May, tickets £10.  Tickets can be booked from this website. http://brightonfestival.org/event/477/the_killing_fields/#

 
Saturday 12th May - Birdsong Walk - FREE EVENT

Listen to the spring birdsong on a guided walk through the woodland and learn to identify key woodland bird calls with Natural Heritage Officer Steve Kirk. 
10am - 12pm.  Free event. Must book.

Sunday 13th May - Bee Day - FREE EVENT

Did you know we make our own honey at Wildwood? Meet our resident bee-keeper and find out all about the fascinating world of bees and bee-keeping.
11am-1pm & 2pm-4pm.  Free event. Drop in at any time.

Saturday 19th May - Mammal Society Water Vole Course

Learn about water voles, how to identify water voles and their signs. Opportunity to handle a water vole under supervision. 
£95 per person / £120 organisations. 
Please book directly with the Mammal Society on 02380 237 874 or
www.mammal.org.uk


Sunday 20th May - Be Nice to Nettles - FREE EVENT

We all know about the nettle's formidable stinging power, but do you know just how useful the humble nettle is? Learn about nettles throughout our history and we have used them for food, clothing and medicines. 
11am - 3pm.  Free event. Drop in at any time.


Sunday 27th May - Tree Walk - FREE EVENT

Discover many of Kent's woodland trees and learn how to identify them on a guided woodland walk with Natural Heritage Officer, Steve Kirk.
1.30pm - 3.30pm.  Free event.  Must book.

Tuesday 29th May - Photo Day 

Wildlife photography with tuition from our resident photographer. Get exclusive access and special animal feeds to help you get those close-up shots.  Over 18 unless accompanied by an adult who is also taking part in the photo day. 
10.30am - 4pm. £79 per person . Must book.

Summer Half term holidays - 2nd June - 10th June

Wednesday 6th June - Death, decay and dissection!

What happens to dead animals? What's inside them and how do other animals use them? This fun (but gory) workshop uses a real dead animal (road kill) for dissection to discover its amazing anatomy. Min 8yrs. 2pm-3.30pm, £2 per person, 1 adult free per family. Must book.

 Thursday 7th June – Animal brains

Discover the brainiest animals at Wildwood and set them some challenges to keep their brains busy. Make special food treats to get them thinking and then see some of these used in the park. 2pm - 3.30pm, £2 per person, 1 adult free per family. Must book.

 Thursday 8th June – Animal senses
Discover how animals use all their senses, not just their eyesight, to find food and each other. 2pm - 3.30pm , £2 per person, 1 adult free per family. Must Book.

 

To book any event please call 01227 712 111

 

Please note that access to events is only permitted once membership or park entry fees have been paid (with the exception of Photo days,

Night tours and conservation courses).

 

The Wildwood Team
Wildwood Trust
www.wildwoodtrust.org

Registered charity no. 1093702

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 1 May 2012

Wildwood jobs special

Wildwood jobs special

We have a number of vacancies at Wildwood, if you want the chance to work at the park please visit our jobs page to read the full job description and for details of how to apply.

 

Bookkeeper & Administrator

Hours:        Full time (37.5 hours a week)

Salary:       £12,000 to £17,000 (+ 9% pension & other benefits after 12 months)

The post holder will support a number of tasks that are crucial to the wellbeing of a growing organisation, notably financial & office management.  The post holder will work closely with the Administrative Co-ordinator to ensure sound financial administration and the smooth running of a busy office.

Specifically:

  • To maintain the Wildwood procedures and systems and ensuring an efficient secretarial facility.
  • Responsible for facilitating internal communications, particularly through the dissemination of all incoming communications.
  • To maintain personal records, staff timesheets, produce letters of appointment and arrange advertisements and interviews.
  • To assist with all financial administration, playing a key role in cost control and making financial systems effective.
  • To ensure that Wildwood's health and safety arrangements are effective, consistent and well documented across the board.

The closing date is 11th May 2012. Interviews will be held by arrangement within 2 weeks of that date.



Keeper / Senior Keeper

Hours:                          Full time (37.5 hours a week)

Salary Keeper:             £13,000 (+ 9% pension & other benefits)

Salary Senior Keeper:  up to £15,272 (+ 9% pension & other benefits after 12 months)

We require a Keeper/Senior Keeper to assist with the care of our animal collection & conservation projects. This role will suit a fit, practical person who can work outdoors during all weathers doing a physically demanding job.

Specifically:

  • To care for our collection of British native & once native wildlife
  • To build and maintain our natural woodland animal enclosures
  • To help educate the public through talks and demonstrations about our animals
  • To help our conservation projects and to promote wildlife conservation.

The closing date is 11th May 2012.

Interviews will be held by arrangement within 2 weeks of that date.

 

Water Vole Keeper (maternity cover)

Hours:                          Full time (37.5 hours a week)

Salary Keeper:             £11,364 to £13,174 (+ 9% pension & other benefits after 12 months)

We require a water vole keeper for maternity cover in our conservation department. The role is to assist in the husbandry of Wildwood's captive water voles and will suit a fit, practical person who can work outdoors during all weathers doing a physically demanding job.  You need to be able to work independently as well as part of the Keeper & Conservation team.

Specifically:

  • Husbandry of water voles in our conservation centre
  • Captive breeding of water voles
  • Preparation of water voles for reintroduction
  • Trapping, monitoring and release of water voles

 The closing date is 11th May 2012

Interviews will be held by arrangement within 2 weeks of that date.

 

Cafe Assistants (temporary summer cover)

Function:                     To assist in Wildwood's Beaver Lodge Cafe

Responsible to:            Cafe Manager

Hours:                          Temporary summer cover, flexible hours

Salary:                         on application

The Beaver Lodge Cafe is set amongst the ancient woodland of the Wildwood Park on Herne Common and, with a very busy summer ahead of us, we need your help!

If you are fantastic with customers and are willing to multi task behind the scenes too, please send your CV and a covering letter telling us why you'll be a valuable addition to our summer team

 

Fundraising project manager

Hours:                              Full  time (37.5 hours a week)

Salary:                             £21,000 to £32,000 9% pension & other benefits (after 12 months)

The Fundraising Projects Managers role will be to administer the Trust's fundraising programmes. This is an exciting position which will help develop a range of new projects to help protect wildlife across the UK and enable projects that allow people to play a role in wildlife conservation.

Specifically:

  • To apply for the maximum amount of relevant grant aid possible including: lottery grants, grant making trusts, government grants, Major donors and corporate sponsorship.
  • To make externally raised funds as effective as possible in achieving our long-term goals.
  • Make sure post grant reporting is completed in full and donor organisation are happy with how we have administered and spent their funds
  • We are looking for someone with good written English and report writing skills that can systematically fill in grant applications, and manage the projects that come about from their success.

 The post holder will receive mentoring from the Chief Executive who is an experienced charitable fundraiser, developing their skills in business planning and project management.

 

The closing date for applications is  24th May 2012

Interviews and selection tests will be held at Wildwood offices at Wealden Forest Park, Herne Common by arrangement during the following two weeks after the closing date for applications.

 

Database & Web Developer

Hours:               Full  time (37.5 hours a week)

Salary:              £18,370 to £26,195 9% pension & other benefits (after 12 months)

We are looking for a flexible technically astute individual to develop our online and offline database marketing systems, websites and booking systems. We are looking for someone with coding and technical understanding to develop the right mix of in house and outsourced data management infrastructure. Working closely with the Chief Executive, Marketing Officer and membership team your primary focus will be the smooth running our websites and databases.

The ideal candidate will be technically able with sound data handling ability, but wishing to develop their career into more practical aspects of marketing and income generation and integrate their work with our administration systems. We favour open source solutions, but are looking to redevelop all of our online systems in the most cost effective and productive way.

The post holder will welcome working in a very small team with the limited resources that are available to a small charity.

Specifically:

  • Migrating the organisation to Direct Debit and ensuring our systems collect the Direct Debits and staff are trained (we are already Auddis enabled).
  • Developing online membership system.
  • Developing online shop,  charitable gifts and appeals.
  • Developing online event booking system.
  • Integration of online database systems and existing charity marketing systems.
  • To assist in the design and development the charity websites ensuring strong functionality and optimisation.
  • To assist the Chief Executive and Marketing Officer in the planning of overall charity strategy regarding online marketing and fundraising.
  • To monitor web server and site technical performance.
  • To facilitate our charitable work through online publishing and information sharing, including social media and online information stores.

 

The closing date for applications is  30th May 2012

Interviews and selection tests will be held at Wildwood offices at Wealden Forest Park, Herne Common by arrangement during the following two weeks after the closing date for applications.

 

Membership Assistant

Hours:                                       Part time including weekends

Salary:                                      £6.50 p/h + 9% pension & other benefits (after 12 months)

This post is crucial in developing the charity to achieve is aims.  The post holder will excel in giving our members the service they demand and expect, through timely and accurate management of the membership, adoption and fundraising database.  This post's will key objectives are to maximise the turnaround of membership administration, membership recruitment and Gift Aided donations.

Key responsibilities:

Responsible for processing new applications for membership on a daily basis, adding to database and sending out all relevant documentation.

Ensuring the up to date maintenance of the existing records, e.g. changes of address, deletions, covenant and bank changes.

Backing up the membership records on a regular basis to avoid data loss.

Responsible for all subscription renewals/reminders.

Dealing with members queries by letter, telephone, e-mail and in person.

 

The closing date for applications is  30th May 2012

Interviews and selection tests will be held at Wildwood offices at Wealden Forest Park, Herne Common by arrangement during the following two weeks after the closing date for applications.

 

For full details and how to apply please visit our jobs page to read the full job description before submitting your application. 

 

The Wildwood Team