A former police constable has swapped her truncheon for a trowel as the head of BBOWT's Wild Bicester and Wild Banbury community action groups.

After years cleaning up the streets as a Thames Valley Police officer, Veritie Turner is now helping people get their hands dirty to connect with nature.

The mum-of-two started her tenure by leading a series of winter wellbeing walks in Bicester and has been inundated with calls from Banbury residents wanting to get involved.

Veritie, Wild Banbury Project Officer for Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), said:
"The wellbeing walks in Bicester have been really well received because people have realised what they've been missing out on and how much of the natural world around them they don't notice.

"In Banbury, people really want to help: I'm forever getting requests from people wanting to get involved with things, especially people in their 20s.

"Like all the things we do, these projects help people to reconnect with nature, which benefits them and helps all of us look after our precious natural environment."

Veritie, originally from Stoke-on-Trent, moved to Milton Keynes to work for Thames Valley Police in 2006.

She spent three years as a constable, then worked for seven years as a Specially Trained Officer (STO), working with victims of sexual assault across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

After spells working as a fitness instructor and a teaching assistant at her daughters' school near the family home just outside Milton Keynes, she joined BBOWT at the end of 2022.

She explained:
"I've always had massive interest in wildlife and nature, and I really wanted to make that passion part of my work. With all the skills I've learnt working in the community, this was the perfect role."

Veritie is also currently studying for a biology degree with the Open University and helps carry out bumblebee and bat surveys - as well as looking after her family and their guinea pigs Mango and Misty.

The Wild Banbury project was started by BBOWT more than 10 years ago. Supported by Banbury Town Council and funded by Cherwell District Council for the past six years, it aims to help residents reconnect with nature for the good of people and wildlife.

The Wild Bicester project was launched by BBOWT at the start of 2021, in the middle of the third national coronavirus lockdown. Funded by Cherwell District Council and Bicester Town Council, the project aims to bring people and nature together to create a greener, healthier and wilder Bicester.

Cherwell councillor Phil Chapman said:
“These projects have achieved so much over the last decade. They have encouraged people to help wildlife through protecting and improving habitats, and provided opportunities for residents of the district to have a greater connection with nature, something that the council is keen to support as it has a well-evidenced positive impact on physical and mental wellbeing. Veritie has been very busy since taking up the post with BBOWT and the council is delighted with the progress she has made in a very short time and the enthusiasm and fun she brings to the role.”

Veritie added:
"It could be putting out a bird feeder or water in your garden, going for a walk where you look out for wildlife or volunteering with a community group. Whatever you do, it's about helping nature to fight the battle it is going through, and realising that nature can help us as well. There's scientific evidence that spending time in nature can help lower blood pressure, it's good for heart health and lung health, and it can be really good for mental health as well - taking time out from crazy world we live in is very good for calming us down and helping the brain focus.

"I just want to get more people involved with us now: everyone deserves to be a part of this - we're all on this planet together, but people don't always realise how they can help nature - and how nature can help them."

For more details about the projects and to get in touch, follow these links:

Wild Bicester

Wild Banbury