Meet our volunteers: Bill Young

Emma Chaplin
, 20 November 2023
Meet our volunteers: Bill Young
Bill Young at Levin Down by Bob Young (Bill's twin!)

Emma Chaplin catches up with Bill Young, who has been volunteering with us for a remarkable 45 years.

Tell us about yourself

I currently live in Charlton, West Sussex, one field away from Levin Down, and have now reached the grand old age of 76. Forty-five of those years have been spent as a volunteer with Sussex Wildlife Trust, and I have enjoyed every minute of it. For most of my working life I have been a laboratory technician at what eventually became University of Chichester, but have been retired for eleven years.

Tell us about volunteering with us

I became a volunteer in 1978, having picked up a leaflet about Sussex Wildlife Trust at the information hut at Pagham Harbour at Sidlesham after photographing birds at the Ferry Pool. 

The idea of volunteering to help the wildlife that I was becoming increasingly interested in appealed to me, and I joined the Trust as a member. I tried out volunteering at several reserves before deciding to concentrate at the time on West Dean Woods, a place I grew to love. I didn’t start volunteering at Levin Down until around 2004, as West Dean Woods changed from weekends to Mondays and Thursdays and I couldn’t always take a day of my annual holidays to go there.

My current role with Sussex Wildlife Trust is as a Lookerer on Levin Down on alternate Saturdays. Due to developing a serious problem with my cervical spine I am no longer able to do practical conservation work. For three years I was Volunteer Reserve Manager (VRM) for Levin Down until my neck problem meant that was no longer possible.

Clustered Bellflower © Glenn Norris
Clustered Bellflower at Levin Down © Glenn Norris

What do you love about Levin Down?

Levin Down is a special place, and I love its huge natural diversity, with many different habitats and micro-habitats, and the views over the Lavant Valley from Singleton to East Dean. Although Levin Down has many visitors, it is still a peaceful and calming place.

My favourite time of year on Levin is the late spring and summer, when Levin is in full bloom with downland wildflowers, butterflies, and other invertebrates. A warm summer’s evening is simply magical.

What changes have you seen over the years?

Volunteering today is the same for the practical work as it was when I first started, but the opportunities now are much more varied and supported. There have been changes of Trust directors and VRMs of course, but everything is more professional today.

Eyebright at Levin Down © Glenn Norris
Eyebright at Levin Down © Glenn Norris

Has anything unexpected ever happened?

The most unexpected thing to have occurred was the effect of Covid, which meant that for some time there was no grazing on the site, and the whole of Levin that summer exploded with wildflowers.

What have you gained from being a volunteer?

I have found that volunteering has enabled me to meet many new people, some of whom have become long-term friends, and carrying out the work leads to a feeling of satisfaction and achievement.

Leave a comment

Comments

  • Scott:

    Bill, I was very pleased to see this as a tribute for your long and loyal volunteering service for the Trust.
    A personal thank you from me for your support and leadership on the slopes of Levin.
    We shall miss your cheery welcome when we come to Levin in future, but I hope all goes well for your move.

    03 Dec 2023 11:16:00

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1782751131.71850 [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
1782751131.75210.0335Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1782751131.75220.0001Server address: 216.73.217.103
1782751131.75230Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1782751131.75230Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/meet-our-volunteers-bill-young
    [s] => meet-our-volunteers-bill-young
    [1] => meet-our-volunteers-bill-young
)
1782751131.75260.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782751131.75420.0016 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1782751131.75650.0023 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1782751131.75730.0009INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1782751131.75960.0023 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22423380
1782751131.76040.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22423380
1782751131.76110.0007 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-06-29 16:38:00' AND saleTo>'2026-06-29 16:38:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1782751131.76260.0015 [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-volunteers-bill-young')) 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 16:38:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1782751131.76560.003 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782751131.76640.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=3250 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-29 16:38:00'
1782751131.76730.0009 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1782751131.76820.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1782751131.7690.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=195 LIMIT 1
1782751131.76960.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=126 LIMIT 1
1782751131.77020.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=47 LIMIT 1
1782751131.77070.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=227 LIMIT 1
1782751131.77140.0007Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782751131.77160.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1782751131.77270.0011 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-29 16:38:00' AND postSlug='meet-our-volunteers-bill-young'
1782751131.79450.0219Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782751131.79520.0007 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1782751131.79670.0015Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1782751131.7970.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1782751131.79780.0008 [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
1782751131.79940.0016 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782751131.80260.0031 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782751131.80320.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782751131.80530.0021Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1782751131.80530 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782751131.80640.001 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782751131.80690.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782751131.80950.0027 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782751131.81070.0011 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782751131.81140.0007 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782751131.81440.003 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782751131.81540.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1782751131.81770.0023 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1782751131.81830.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782751131.81850.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1782751131.81940.0009Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1782751131.81980.0004 [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-volunteers-bill-young')) 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 16:38:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1782751131.82230.0025 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782751131.82290.0006 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782751131.82640.0035Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1782751131.82750.0011 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=3250 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1782751131.87860.0511 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1782751131.87920.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782751131.87930.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1782751131.88030.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1782751131.88110.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1782751131.88170.0006 [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
1782751131.88370.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782751131.88430.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782751131.88640.0021 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782751131.88760.0012 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782751131.88820.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782751131.88870.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782751131.89110.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782751131.89160.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782751131.89360.002 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782751131.89720.0035 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1782751131.8980.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1782751131.89860.0006 [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
1782751131.90110.0026 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782751131.90180.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782751131.90380.002 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782751131.90650.0026 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782751131.90720.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782751131.90770.0005 [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
1782751131.91010.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782751131.91080.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782751131.91280.002 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782751131.91460.0018Request time: 0.1998
1782751131.91460Process time: 0.1997
1782751131.91460Memory: 1.6337