Increasing our engagement with nature is a big part of Tor Lawrence’s new job with Sussex Wildlife Trust, as she tells Duncan Hall
Despite growing up in Lewes, Tor Lawrence, the new chief executive of Sussex Wildlife Trust didn’t make her first real connection with nature until she was 21.
It was spotting a rock rose during a walk with friends in Sheffield which suddenly made her see the natural world with different eyes. “I was interested in global environmental issues but hadn’t really got what was in my street, or garden or down the road,” says Tor, who took up her new position in June. “Looking at that flower was like something from a Blake poem: ‘To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower’. There was something really powerful about looking at something in detail and being overwhelmed by how beautiful such a small thing could be.” As a result she volunteered for the charity The Fieldfare Trust, which champions countryside access for disabled people. She went on to work with the South Downs National Park Authority, London Wildlife Trust and with East Sussex County Council, but that memory of having her eyes opened by nature has carried on throughout her career.
This story is from the September 2018 edition of Sussex Life.
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This story is from the September 2018 edition of Sussex Life.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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