Weathering arctic conditions for our feathered friends

By Louise Gosling
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

Helen's bird food supplies keep our feathered friends feeling full

A Cambridgeshire woman is fighting the freezing weather conditions to provide food for the birds across the county.

Helen Field, from Warboys, runs the only mobile bird food shop in Britain.

Every day she drives around the smaller villages of central Cambridgeshire to deliver wild bird food, feeders and nest boxes.

Helen said: "Many of my customers are elderly, and in this bad weather my mobile shop has been invaluable to them and the wild birds that they feed."

Helen started her business - Round Robin Garden Wildlife Supplies - in 2006, when she moved from Bedfordshire to be with her partner.

She didn't want to return to her previous career as an office manager, so decided to set up on her own.

"Feeding the birds is something that I've always enjoyed," she said. "I've been interested in them since I was a child, thanks to my parents.

"So I came up with the idea of having a mobile bird food shop, because I was always running out of bird food myself."

'She's brilliant'

Helen travels a 20-mile radius around central Cambridgeshire, weighing and bagging up supplies from the back of her van.

Edward Gurrey is one of her customers in Holywell, near St Ives.

He said: "I think it's a good service, especially at this time of year. It saves us going out. It's nice to see her come to the door, and we can choose what we want."

Another customer, Carol Anne Gibbs from Warboys, is always pleased to see Helen pull up in her van for her rounds. "I think she's brilliant, actually. I just like to sit and watch the birds - my husband's the same.

This robin, braving the snow, was photographed by Belinda Fallon

"We've always fed them," she continued. "So when Helen first started coming round it was brilliant."

Providing a service

Despite the recent freezing weather conditions, Helen is determined to continue her rounds.

She said: "I love teaching people about what to feed birds and passing on some of my enthusiasm for the wildlife.

"I'm trying to put something back into the countryside, rather than taking from it all the time.

"People are just so pleased to see me when the weather is bad. But knowing that I'm providing a service - especially for some of my older customers - is just really nice to know that what I'm doing is appreciated.

"I used to work in a lovely warm office but even on days when the weather is below freezing and my feet feel like ice, I just love what I do."

Further details

You can find information about Helen's mobile bird feeding shop, and delivery locations on the Round Robin website:

Round Robin Garden Wildlife Supplies