About us



About us
The management committee 
From its inception, work on the Nature Reserves has been planned and managed by a committee of local people. They represent nearby schools, district and parish councils and local conservation organizations. The committee also works on getting grants to finance what we do and manages those funds.

The present officers and members, from July 2009, are:
David Hadley - Chairman
Mrs Joy Matthews - Secretary
Mrs Sally Cole - Treasurer (and noticeboards and risk assessment)

Full Members:
Mrs Stephanie Dickson and Mrs Rosemary Madden - jointly representing Lingfield Primary School
Parish Councillor Mrs Mary Edwards - representing Lingfield Parish Council
Parish Councillor Graham Marks - representing Lingfield Parish Council
Mrs Julie Hearn - Publicity (a local Tree Warden)
John Madden - Surveys Manager
District Councillor Michael Sydney - representing Tandridge District Council
Tony Anderson - representing Surrey Wildlife Trust
Mrs Anne Richards - Grants Secretary  (a local Tree Warden)

Associate Members:
Mrs Sarah Henderson - Local Youth Groups
David Netherclift -  Allotments
Richard Lowe - RSPB


The membership of the committee has a stable core. Anne Richards and Graham Marks have been on it uninterruptedly from its first meeting, in March 1994, giving a helpful continuity.

We occasionally invite officers from Tandridge District Council and other guests to attend meetings whenever we need specific advice and help.

Volunteers 
Practical work on the reserve, such as planting shrubs and trees and maintaining existing hedges, is done by committee members, by young people on their Duke of Edinburgh's Award and by a hardworking group of volunteers, the Friends of Lingfield Nature Reserves. We are deeply indebted to the Friends and other individual volunteers for what they have contributed over the years.

If you are interested in helping with the practical work on the reserve, just turn up on one of the working days, listed here. You'll get a warm welcome - we're a friendly bunch and always happy to see a new face.

From time to time, we get help from conservation groups such as the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (paths and pond structures) and the South of England Hedgelaying Society (hedging). Some work, such as digging the pond and mowing the fields, is put out to professional contractors.

Where does the money come from?
The Wildlife Area is funded entirely by voluntary donations and grants, usually gained in competition with other reserves and conservation groups. Almost every grant has come about through the efforts of our inventive and indefatigable Grants Secretary, Anne Richards.

Many of these grants have come from environmental organizations and programmes, such as Barclays SiteSavers, Community Service Volunteers, the Countryside Agency, Forestry Commission, Rural Action for the Environment (now defunct), Shell Better Britain Campaign and the Lingfield and District Conservation Society.

Grants have come also from British Airports Authority (Gatwick), Lingfield Marathon Fun Run, Lingfield Parish Council (also in its previous form, as Lingfield and Dormansland Parish Council), Surrey County Council, Tandridge District Council, Toshiba Pride of Place Awards, plus many private and anonymous donations.

Details of these and other organizations that have been helpful to us are given here, as well as being accessible through the individual links above.