Sophie Webster, Catch my Drift Project Assistant. Image by: Anthony Johnston.
Sophie joins ‘Catch my Drift’ team
Northumberland resident Sophie Webster is Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s new ‘Catch my Drift’ project assistant.
The project, which is funded by players of the National Lottery via a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, is set to improve biodiversity and reconnect people with nature at the wildlife charity’s 185-hectare East Chevington reserve on Druridge Bay.
Sophie (23) from Hartburn near Morpeth joins the ‘Catch my Drift’ team from Liverpool John Moores University, where she recently graduated with a BSc Degree in Wildlife Conservation.
Prior to going to university Sophie spent two months volunteering in Peru on a conservation project in the Amazon, which included ecological studies, bird ringing, behavioural studies of and the rehabilitation of monkeys.
Although Sophie will be based at Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Hauxley Wildlife Discovery Centre, her project assistant role is very much community and volunteer focussed so she will be out-and-about hosting public information and awareness sessions in the area, recruiting volunteers to the project and surveying visitors to the East Chevington reserve.
In her spare time, Sophie indulges in her passion of bird watching and is learning to ring birds and who better to learn from than her uncle, Bryan Galloway, who is secretary of the Northumbria Bird Ringing Group and a regular visitor to the wildlife charity’s Druridge Bay reserves.
Speaking about her appointment, Sophie said “I’m so happy to have been given this opportunity so soon after finishing university. I have grown up around wildlife, so to be able to make a small contribution to wildlife so close to where I live is wonderful.
“I am looking forward to meeting members of the local community to hear their thoughts on what improvements could be made to the East Chevington reserve and will be actively seeking volunteers to work alongside me on the project. So if you see me out and about, please come up and introduce yourself.”
The first of Sophie’s community coffee mornings will be held at Hadston House Community Centre on Thursday 18 April, between 10:30am - 12:30pm.
For more details on the project visit:
www.facebook.com/catchmydriftnwt