Meet our staff: Alice Oakley

Laura Ross
, 12 December 2023
Meet our staff: Alice Oakley
Alice Oakley © Gesine Garz

Laura Ross

Communications Officer, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

Laura Ross catches up with the new Volunteer Coordinator at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, to find out more about what she's most looking forward to and her love of kick-boxing.

Tell us a bit about yourself 

I’ve had many jobs ranging from working on a paint mixing desk at B&Q, processing 35mm films in a Boots photo lab to baking cakes for weddings and cafes. Mostly all my roles have involved working with people in a supportive, mentoring or facilitator capacity. I’m a trained Forest School teacher and love being outdoors. I’ve spent a lot of time working for charities in education and the arts sector, supporting volunteers in various roles and settings.

What interested you in the role of Volunteer Coordinator?

This role combines two big interests for me - volunteering and nature. I am passionate about volunteering and the benefits it can have for both the individual volunteer and the organisation receiving their time, energy, and support. I also understand the positive impact natural spaces and wildlife can have on our wellbeing and the importance of protecting it. This role seemed to be a perfect fit, in a beautiful location and I was very lucky to be successful. I’m very much looking forward to getting stuck in. 

Did you already have a connection with Rye Harbour? If so, what is your favourite spot or memory from here?

I moved from Norfolk to Hastings 12 years ago and have spent many weekends enjoying walks in Rye Harbour. It feels like an otherworldly, dreamlike landscape to me, and I love experiencing it in all weathers. My favourite spot is the Mary Stanford Lifeboat House. RHNR also formed a bit of a measure stick as my children have grown, it used to be a real achievement to get from the car park to Lime Kiln Cottage when they were toddlers! Each year I’d be able to get them further and further towards the sea, and now we can do full loops together and enjoy identifying the wildlife we see.

What are you most looking forward to about your new role? 

Working with lovely people. All the volunteers and staff are so warm and friendly, and I look forward to working with them all and becoming a part of the RHNR community. Also, being able to take walks on my lunchbreak in such a beautiful landscape.

What do you think the key challenges may be?

We are lucky enough to have a huge number of volunteers registered with us at RHNR and across the whole of the Trust. I imagine it will be a challenge to keep on top of everything and ensure all volunteers are well supported.

Tell us something we might not know about you

In my spare time I enjoy knitting and kickboxing – not at the same time!

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1782741458.2670 [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
1782741458.29470.0277Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1782741458.29490.0002Server address: 216.73.216.31
1782741458.29490Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1782741458.2950Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/meet-our-staff-alice-oakley
    [s] => meet-our-staff-alice-oakley
    [1] => meet-our-staff-alice-oakley
)
1782741458.29530.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782741458.29660.0012 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1782741458.29880.0022 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1782741458.29940.0007INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1782741458.30170.0023 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22418767
1782741458.30230.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22418767
1782741458.3030.0007 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-06-29 13:57:00' AND saleTo>'2026-06-29 13:57:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1782741458.30490.0018 [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='meet-our-staff-alice-oakley')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-29 13:57:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1782741458.30740.0026 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782741458.30810.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=3279 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-29 13:57:00'
1782741458.30920.0012 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1782741458.31020.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1782741458.31090.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=251 LIMIT 1
1782741458.31160.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=70 LIMIT 1
1782741458.3120.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=189 LIMIT 1
1782741458.31270.0007Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782741458.31310.0004 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1782741458.31420.0011 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-29 13:57:00' AND postSlug='meet-our-staff-alice-oakley'
1782741458.33590.0218Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782741458.33650.0006 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1782741458.33840.0018Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1782741458.33870.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1782741458.35460.0159 [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
1782741458.35620.0016 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782741458.35930.0031 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782741458.35990.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782741458.36230.0024Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1782741458.36240.0001 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782741458.36330.0009 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782741458.36390.0006 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782741458.36670.0028 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782741458.36780.0011 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782741458.36850.0008 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782741458.37180.0032 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782741458.37260.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1782741458.37490.0023 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1782741458.37550.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782741458.37590.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='28' LIMIT 1
1782741458.37710.0011Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1782741458.37750.0004 [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='meet-our-staff-alice-oakley')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-29 13:57:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1782741458.37980.0023 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782741458.38030.0005 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782741458.38470.0044Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1782741458.38590.0012 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=3279 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1782741458.45080.065 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1782741458.45120.0003Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782741458.45150.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='28' LIMIT 1
1782741458.45240.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1782741458.45330.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1782741458.45390.0006 [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
1782741458.45610.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782741458.45660.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782741458.45880.0023 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782741458.46010.0013 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782741458.46070.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782741458.46120.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782741458.4640.0028 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782741458.46460.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782741458.46670.0022 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782741458.47030.0035 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1782741458.47110.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1782741458.47160.0005 [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
1782741458.47420.0026 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782741458.47480.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782741458.47680.002 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782741458.480.0033 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782741458.48070.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782741458.48130.0006 [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
1782741458.48340.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782741458.4840.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782741458.4860.002 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782741458.48760.0016Request time: 0.2246
1782741458.48760Process time: 0.2244
1782741458.48760Memory: 1.6355