Centre hours change may see jobs go
Kent Wildlife Trust is considering reducing the opening hours of its visitor centre at the Tyland Barn nature reserve at Sandling next year.
Staff and volunteers were told that in future the centre may only open at the weekend and only between April and October. The centre currently opens from Wednesday to Sunday, except from December 23 until February 14.
The proposal may result in redundancies and the trust has begun a consultation process with its employees.
It is thought two jobs may be lost.
A volunteer at the centre described the suggestion as a “slap in the face” and said staff were “shocked and upset” by the news.
But the charity sought to reassure supporters saying no decision had yet been taken. Communications manager Ashton Dreyer said: “As a registered charity, Kent Wildlife Trust is continually assessing how member donations should be used to deliver our charitable objectives or to raise much needed funds.
“In this light, it is best practice that all areas of our operations are reviewed in order to provide the most sustainable output. “We would like our commercial activity to generate sufficient funds to support our conservation work.
“To this end Kent Wildlife Trust has recently been reviewing the current and alternate opening times for the Tyland Barn Visitor Centre.
“We have done this regularly and the opening times changed most recently in October this year and before then in June this year.”
“At this time we are informally consulting staff and volunteers and after collating feedback and assessing the viability of various options we will come to a decision that reflects the best interest of the Kent Wildlife Trust’s staff, volunteers, members, visitors and supporters.”