30 years of volunteers at the Gatwick Greenspace Partnership

admin
, 14 August 2024
30 years of volunteers at the Gatwick Greenspace Partnership
Waterlea Meadow volunteer © Kevin Lerwill

As the project celebrates its 30th anniversary, Kevin Lerwill, Gatwick Greenspace Partnership Project Officer, tells us about his experience of volunteering and working with volunteers

I started with the Gatwick Greenspace Partnership in 2008 and it has been my pleasure and privilege to have been responsible for leading our conservation volunteers for the past 16 years. Before this, I supported the Horsham Green Gym and other community groups in Horsham for Horsham District Council for several years. And before this, I was a volunteer myself and I think that experience has helped me appreciate the dedication and sacrifice that our regular volunteers make and we can’t begin to thank them enough for all their dedication and hard work over the years, come rain or shine.

Goffs Park volunteers © Kevin Lerwill

Our project has been supported by hundreds, if not 1000s, of volunteers over the past 16 years, including many corporate groups and although many of the volunteers that I started with at the GGP have now moved on and the face of our volunteers may gradually change, I believe that the main reasons why people volunteer with us remain the same.

  • They care about the natural environment will always want to make it better than it is.
  • They enjoy doing practical tasks will instinctively want to join in with local opportunities when there is the chance to do so.
  • Those who may lack regular social contact look for local opportunities to join in with like-minded people.
  • People who find comfort and solace in nature will always want to give something back whenever and wherever they can.

These, I believe, the main reasons why people want to volunteer with projects like ours and are also why the huge contribution that our volunteers make each year remains an essential part of our core aim; “To help improve our local green spaces for people and wildlife wherever we can”. I sincerely hope that, even in a small way, this blog will go some way to acknowledge the huge contribution that all our volunteers have made to our project over the past 30 years.

Kevin Lerwill © Miles Davies
Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1782666793.94410 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1782666793.97230.0282Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1782666793.97240.0002Server address: 216.73.216.31
1782666793.97250Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1782666793.97250Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/30-years-of-volunteers-at-the-gatwick-greenspace-partnership
    [s] => 30-years-of-volunteers-at-the-gatwick-greenspace-partnership
    [1] => 30-years-of-volunteers-at-the-gatwick-greenspace-partnership
)
1782666793.97290.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782666793.97390.0011 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1782666793.97570.0018 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1782666793.97620.0005INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1782666793.97810.0019 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22389396
1782666793.97860.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22389396
1782666793.9790.0005 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-06-28 17:13:00' AND saleTo>'2026-06-28 17:13:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1782666793.98030.0012 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='30-years-of-volunteers-at-the-gatwick-greenspace-partnership')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-28 17:13:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1782666793.98280.0026 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782666793.98330.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=3469 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-28 17:13:00'
1782666793.98410.0008 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1782666793.98470.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1782666793.98530.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=47 LIMIT 1
1782666793.9860.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=53 LIMIT 1
1782666793.98650.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782666793.98680.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1782666793.98770.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-28 17:13:00' AND postSlug='30-years-of-volunteers-at-the-gatwick-greenspace-partnership'
1782666794.00810.0204Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782666794.00870.0005 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1782666794.010.0013Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1782666794.01010.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1782666794.01090.0008 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1782666794.0120.001 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782666794.01490.0029 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782666794.01540.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782666794.01740.002Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1782666794.01740.0001 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782666794.01830.0009 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782666794.01880.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782666794.02160.0028 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782666794.02260.0011 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782666794.02370.0011 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782666794.02640.0027 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782666794.0270.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1782666794.02890.0018 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1782666794.02940.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782666794.02970.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1782666794.03040.0007Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1782666794.03080.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='30-years-of-volunteers-at-the-gatwick-greenspace-partnership')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-28 17:13:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1782666794.03270.002 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782666794.03320.0005 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782666794.03620.003Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1782666794.03720.001 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=3469 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1782666794.08650.0493 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1782666794.08670.0003Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782666794.08690.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1782666794.08780.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1782666794.08840.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1782666794.0890.0006 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782666794.09120.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782666794.09160.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782666794.09350.0019 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782666794.09440.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782666794.09490.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782666794.09520.0004 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782666794.09750.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782666794.0980.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782666794.09990.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782666794.10340.0035 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1782666794.10390.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1782666794.10420.0004 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782666794.10640.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782666794.10690.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782666794.10860.0017 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782666794.11110.0024 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782666794.11160.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782666794.11190.0004 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782666794.11390.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782666794.11430.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782666794.11610.0018 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782666794.11720.0011Request time: 0.1757
1782666794.11720Process time: 0.1755
1782666794.11720Memory: 1.6219