In March this year, the Friends of Kinson Common will be celebrating fifteen years of volunteering. We would like to thank all the people who have given their free time to help us Protect-Preserve-Promote forty acres of nature reserve in an urban environment, a haven for wildlife and a wonderful open space for local residents to enjoy.

When we started, fly tipping was commonplace as were illegal motorcycles and quad bikes as well as burnt out vehicles. Arson on the site was almost daily, as was anti-social behaviour. But slowly with the help of many people this situation was turned around.

We completed the Millenium steps at the Glenmeadows entrance in 2000 with Mark Miller, an inspirational Senior Countryside Officer, and the Jubilee walkway was completed in 2003. Many bat and bird boxes have also been placed on site. Sally Humphries from East Dorset Bat Rescue and Rehabilitation has given up time from a busy schedule to give talks and bat walks on site, in the process finding new bat species.

George Dunkling, our group naturalist who volunteers his time to do monthly walks and monitors the flora and fauna on both Kinson and Turbary Commons free of charge to anyone who wishes to join him. Tim Spring from Dorset Fire and Rescue, Jared Parkin and Dave Fish from Dorset Police who in the early days, took seriously our problems on site and helped eliminate fires and a lot of other anti-social behaviour.

Also our former local Councillors, Claire & Richard Smith, Pat Lewis and currently Councillor Dennis Gritt who have supported our work by raising issues with Council officials. They have also helped us, through the Local Improvement Fund to purchase a noticeboard and 4 rubbing plaques of wildlife for children’s educational use.

The North Bournemouth Crime Prevention Panel, especially Deirdre Redstone who has also helped us to solve problems such as anti-social behaviour on site and has recently donated panic alarms for female dog walkers who are apprehensive on their own after incidents involving a flasher and stalker last year.

Thank you to all organisations, especially the wildlife groups who helped make our annual Open Day’s such a success and to all the local residents who came and supported the event until we sadly finished in 2009 due to lots of red tape and paperwork.

Thanks to Bill Hill of Home News who kindly regularly featured photos of Kinson Common, and publicised our work and events. The many photographers must also be thanked who have through their superb work given publicity to the site on such websites as Flickr. The Daily Echo are also very supportive of our work through our blog on their website.

But most of all we would like to thank all members, past and present, who willingly gave their valuable time and energy to work on site, sometimes in very cold and wet conditions on the Autumn /Winter work programmes, and to all those members who still litter-pick and monitor the site.

Here’s to another 15 years!

Jan Budden.

Publicity Officer Based on information supplied by Friends of Kinson Common.