It's not often we're found wearing less than three layers of clothing up on the cliffs. An almost constant nippy north-easternly means fleeces are de rigueur all year round. However, last Wednesday we made an exception and donned our best summer holiday outfits in honour of a new member of staff. And after days of grim greyness, the sun shone specially for the occasion.
Ryan Chenery hails from Barbados and is our new Volunteer Development Officer. He brings with him a wealth of experience in the environmental sector. In his previous roles, Ryan has surveyed habitats and species in Ecuador, spent time volunteering in his native Barbados, as well as supporting a programme to reintroduce the red-billed curassow at a nature reserve along Brazil’s Atlantic coastline. At Bempton he faces a new set of challenges - not least of which is the weather.
There is, as always, a serious side to everything we do - even wearing to wearing Hawaiin shirts and flip-flops in winter. In this case it was to take a photo that will hopefully get us a lot of local mediacoverage and enable us to put out a message from Ryan that new volunteers are always welcome up on the cliffs. If it works, the goose-bumps on goose-bumps will have been worth it.
To much humming of the Hawaii-Five-O theme tune, Ryan struts his stuff on a picnic table in a classic surfing pose.
Just to prove how chilly it really was, volunteers Barbara and Alan Bellerby sneak into shot. They were warming up with a cuppa after spending some time with visitors out on the reserve. There was steam coming off Barbara's tea (honest).
And finally the boys go solo on a viewpoint - more Benidorm than Barbados?
Bringing Ryan on board has been made possible through HLF funding. About the Heritage Lottery Fund: Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) aims to make a lasting difference for heritage, people and communities across the UK and help build a resilient heritage economy. From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions, we invest in every part of our diverse heritage. HLF has supported over 36,000 projects with more than £5.9bn across the UK including £425m to over 3,000 projects in Yorkshire & the Humber alone. www.hlf.org.uk.
One for the ladies