Meet the staff: Kai Hilton

Emma Chaplin
, 07 September 2024
Meet the staff: Kai Hilton
Kai Hilton

Emma Chaplin

Communications Officer

We caught up with Kai Hilton, Design and Visitor Experience Officer, to find out a bit more about him and his role.  

Tell us a bit about yourself

I’m a self-confessed bird nerd with a passion for wildlife photography. I am a huge fan of bouldering and regularly climb weekly, as well as that I’m a big gamer, I have a collection of over 20 games consoles!

Cormorants at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve © Kai Hilton
Cormorants at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve © Kai Hilton

And your job?

I am the Design and Visitor Experience Officer for the Trust, I’m responsible for all things design, be it an illustration or designing a map.

Tell us about your working day

Every day is different which is what I love. I could be based at my desk designing a poster, or I could be walking around a reserve and putting myself in a visitor’s shoes, to improve on the visitor experience.

What have you enjoyed most so far?

So far my favourite piece of work has been an infographic scene about Beaver reintroduction, I’ve illustrated each element from scratch so it’s been a fun one.

What do you like about your job?

Living and breathing wildlife and getting to do some of my hobbies for work (like photography and illustration) and working with some amazing, knowledgeable people.

Little Egret at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve © Kai Hilton
Little Egret at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve © Kai Hilton

What skills do you need to do your work?

To do my job you need to be passionate about the things you create and realise the importance of how some of your designs can help people. As well as being very organised and able to prioritise a to-do list.

What's a perfect Sunday?

A perfect Sunday for me would be either a walk on a beach at low tide, or on a nature reserve (with my camera in tow of course!) or skateboarding on Worthing promenade on a sunny day. Good food is essential. Then finishing the day lounging around with a gaming session, most likely playing a cosy game on the Nintendo Switch.

Tell us something about you most people don't know

I own a small business selling fun and colourful prints, tea towels and merch. All my designs are inspired by Sussex landscapes and cheeky seagulls! @‌kaijedcreative on Instagram.

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1782661948.54870 [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
1782661948.57530.0266Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1782661948.57550.0002Server address: 216.73.216.31
1782661948.57550Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1782661948.57550Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/meet-the-staff-kai-hilton
    [s] => meet-the-staff-kai-hilton
    [1] => meet-the-staff-kai-hilton
)
1782661948.57580.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782661948.57680.0009 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1782661948.57880.0021 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1782661948.57950.0007INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1782661948.58150.002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22387318
1782661948.58220.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22387318
1782661948.58290.0007 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-06-28 15:52:00' AND saleTo>'2026-06-28 15:52:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1782661948.58430.0014 [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-the-staff-kai-hilton')) 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 15:52:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1782661948.5870.0027 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782661948.58760.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=3490 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-28 15:52:00'
1782661948.58840.0008 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1782661948.58910.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1782661948.58980.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=195 LIMIT 1
1782661948.59040.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782661948.59060.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1782661948.59140.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-28 15:52:00' AND postSlug='meet-the-staff-kai-hilton'
1782661948.61270.0213Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782661948.61340.0006 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1782661948.6150.0016Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1782661948.61530.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1782661948.61620.0009 [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
1782661948.61730.0011 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782661948.62020.003 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782661948.62070.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782661948.62280.0021Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1782661948.62280 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782661948.62370.0008 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782661948.62410.0004 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782661948.62680.0027 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782661948.62760.0009 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782661948.6280.0004 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782661948.63020.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782661948.6310.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1782661948.6330.0021 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1782661948.63340.0004Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782661948.63360.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1782661948.63430.0007Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1782661948.63460.0003 [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-the-staff-kai-hilton')) 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 15:52:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1782661948.63650.0018 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782661948.63680.0003 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782661948.6390.0022Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1782661948.63970.0007 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=3490 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1782661948.69290.0532 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1782661948.69320.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782661948.69340.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1782661948.69420.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1782661948.6950.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1782661948.69550.0006 [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
1782661948.69760.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782661948.69820.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782661948.70020.0021 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782661948.7010.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782661948.70160.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782661948.70210.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782661948.70420.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782661948.70490.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782661948.70680.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782661948.70980.003 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1782661948.71060.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1782661948.71130.0006 [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
1782661948.71360.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782661948.71420.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782661948.71590.0018 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782661948.71750.0016 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782661948.71820.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782661948.71860.0004 [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
1782661948.72050.0019 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782661948.72090.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782661948.72270.0018 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782661948.72350.0007Request time: 0.1769
1782661948.72350Process time: 0.1768
1782661948.72350Memory: 1.6217