Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve suffers from vandalism costing £1,000’s damage

We received the sad news today that Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve has had two of their bird hides badly vandalised.

Willow Hide has been damage inside and is now unsafe to enter, whilst Tower Hide was broken into and a small fire was set in the door way. This damage will cost thousands to repair. Each hide costs between £15,000 and £20,000 to replace as they have to be customised and built.

The Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve is open to the public but due to the current government restrictions the visitor centre is not and therefore their source of income has been lost.

Staff are doing what they can to protect the sites, but vandals have been damaging the hides at night and setting fires which are so dangerous and potentially devastating to the local surroundings and the wildlife. The charity are facing challenges at this difficult time without having to deal with mindless vandalism.

This is unfair to all the families that use the reserve every day and can be dangerous to both the public visiting and the staff trying to “make good and mend with limited staff available at the moment”.

A GoFundMe page has been setup to cover some of the repair costs to the hides and damaged fencing during the government restrictions. If you are able to help, in any way at all, that would be greatly appreciated during these challenging and difficult times.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/raising-funds-to-repair-vandalised-bird-hides

If you see any antisocial behaviour/ vandalism on the reserve, please report this to the police on 101 or emergency 999 and to Kent Wildlife Trust at www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk and use the contact form to report this to the estate and reserves teams.