‘I’m so lucky to be doing a thing that I love so much’
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK FOR WASHINGTON WILDFOWL & WETLANDS TRUST’S CENTRE MANAGER
Centre managers are the guardians of Wildfowl & Wetlands Trusts (WWT) – they keep everyone safe, from visitors, staff, volunteers and the animals – and at Washington that is no different.
Gill Pipes joined WWT in 2006 as a trading manager and took over as centre manager eight years later. Since then, she’s overseen the birth of otter quadruplets, the arrival of a ‘working wetlands garden’, which won Gold Award and Best Garden Award at RHS Hampton Court Flower Show, and most recently a winning bid for funding to create Europe’s first solar-powered flamingo house.
And her varied role means that Gill has no shortage of stories to share.
“I tell you what, I have long since stopped being surprised by anything that happens here,” she said. “When you work with large numbers of both animals and humans, anything can, and does, happen.
“Recently, we had to close the centre due to the heavy snow. Only myself and one other person made it here for a couple of days and it was quite a surreal experience.
“Sat in my office alone, I looked out the window to see a crow sledge down a hill on its belly. It then proceeded to do this at least another six times – sliding down a small hill, jumping up and hopping back to the top, then sliding down again. The first couple of times I thought it was using the snow as a way of cleaning its feathers (and this will most definitely have been part of it) but those last five or six times – that was most definitely recreational.”
Organisation and preparation is a big part of the centre running smoothly, and Gill’s day starts with the communication.
She said: “Every day at 9.15am we do a radio check to make sure everyone has a radio, that it’s working and that everyone has what they need for the day.
“It’s also nice just to connect, however briefly, with everyone before we open to the public.
“We arrive at 8.30am and only have one hour before opening to clean the building, get the café and shop ready and check the whole of site is looking tip top to welcome our visitors so it’s nice just before we do that to say a quick ‘Hi’ to everyone.
“On busy days, most people enter our grounds by walking past my office. The part of the morning where a steady stream of excited children burst through the door shouting, ‘Look at the ducks!!!, is a real treat. I feel that way about ducks too.”
It is that excitement and enjoyment of the visitors that is one of the big rewards for putting in the hard work.
“Seeing the impact our site has on people is the most rewarding thing about this job,” said Gill. It’s genuinely good for the soul. Experiencing families who have chosen to visit us over all of the other things they could have done that day and leaving having had a fun and exciting day is remarkable. Also encountering people who may have had a rough time finding solace and peace here.
“We’re a very busy team and these things always put things into perspective and remind me how lucky I am to be doing a thing I love in a place I am genuinely proud of.”
When it comes to the heart of the job, the animals, the job certainly brings its moments.
“In the winter of 2013, I was privileged to be allowed to help out with hand rearing 24 flamingo chicks. Each night we would transport the babies to the night time rearing unit (they needed fed every three hours day and night). We would do this via a large box we customised to contain one small segment for each baby.
“One night I was in charge of the box whilst a colleague drove. The babies had a habit of squabbling with each other so my job was to keep everyone in their own segment during transport. As I mediated two of the smaller babies, I was vaguely aware of one of the taller ones standing up tall. Now baby flamingos have this awesome trait where they defecate at a very fast pace (this ensures that their faeces lands away from their nest – a very clever adaptation). As I said to the two squabbling birds, ‘settle down now’, the taller bird decided to evacuate its bowels. At high speed. Into the back of my throat. Very hot and very salty is the answer to everyone’s question.
“A slightly less traumatic and equally rewarding opportunity came when I accompanied our animal care team on an otter health check.
“Each year we take our Asian short clawed otters to our local vet clinic for a health check, which involves a quick check including a visual inspection, blood tests and xrays.
“The otters, whilst adorable, are very much wild animals. We don’t stroke them or hug them – we value our fingers too much – so they do require a brief period of sedation so we can do this safely for both otters and humans and in as stress free a way as possible for the otters.
“We took Mimi and Musa, the mum and dad of our group, and I was there to take some photos and videos of the process so we could share the event as a learning experience back at the centre (and for future staff ). Musa went first. His exam was completed and he came round well from his sedation. I settled him and went to log Mimi’s exam.
“However, Musa, who is a very sweet otter, had other ideas. He was insistent on getting our attention – calling out to us and putting his paws through his holding crate. I kept returning to him to reassure him but in the end I sat on the floor with him as he only relaxed if I allowed him to wrap his fingers round one of mine.
“What a privilege to get so close to him, even if it did mean we had to get one of the vet nurses to take over filming. The trick was not to get so drawn in to the experience that I forgot that once the sedation wore off fully, that finger could swiftly be munched on!
“Within an hour, the otters were back in their exhibit as if it never happened but it’s an experience I’ll always remember.”
Gill describes people as “amazing, resilient and hugely varied” as staff, volunteers, customers and peers bring something new to the table, something surprising and interesting.
She said: “The job can be really stressful! Don’t get me wrong, it’s a brilliant job. Hugely varied and interesting. No two days are ever the same. I learn something new every day. I love it. But I am ultimately responsible for making sure everyone’s needs are met every day – all of our staff and volunteers, all of our visitors and my colleagues who work across WWT.
“Everyone needs to be safe and to get what they need from being here. However, we keep that stress behind closed doors. Once we step out into the corridor, it all disappears temporarily as you get enveloped in the fluffy loveliness that is our visitors.”
“One of my favourite parts of the day is when the team catch up as they leave. We’ve got a brilliantly dynamic team here who achieve a lot and these ad hoc chats are very important in terms of me keeping up to date with good news, or challenges. ‘What you having for tea?’ is also a regular feature of these conversations, which I very much enjoy.”
‘I’ve long-since stopped being surprised by anything that happens here’