Worklife balance meets weekend volunteering
At Earth Trust, volunteers are an invaluable part of our charity; we simply would not be able to get by without the support of the 250 people who support us with their time all year-round. Of the dozen or so volunteer roles we have, many of them are weekdays and school holidays so we’ve recently launched a new weekend opportunity with our land management team. We caught up with Katy Hurley and Nick Cook, two of the first volunteers to join the team, to hear how it’s going so far …
What inspired you to get involved with Earth Trust?
We heard about the charity through family and were keen to get involved, but we are both in full time work Monday to Friday and so are unable to volunteer with the weekday land management teams that we were hoping to help with. When the new Saturday group for Wallingford was launched, it was perfect for us.
As well as supporting the environment and community, we were attracted by doing something that would also constitute a bit of exercise and fresh air – hard things to come by sat at a desk 40 hours a week!
Although weekends are often busy for us, the Saturday group meets once a month for around three hours, so it’s easy to fit in. We sign up to each monthly session on a case-by-case basis so we simply say if we are or are not available, it’s very flexible.
What do you enjoy most about being a weekend volunteer?
Being involved with the group gets us out of the house all through the year, it is good to be outdoors, and it feels positive to help protect and care for our much needed green spaces in the Wallingford area.
There is a real mix of people, backgrounds and experience within the Saturday group, which is always led by a knowledgeable and supportive Earth Trust Ranger.
The tasks we take on vary from planned activities such as coppicing, weeding, hedge cutting, or fence building, to the more unexpected, such as clearing paths from fallen trees after a summer storm.
We’re based at the community reserves at either Wallingford riverside or in Castle Meadows , and often visited by the resident cows who like to see what’s going on and if they can ‘help’, for example by sticking their heads in the bags where we’ve put the poisonous weeds they shouldn’t be eating!
Have there been any unexpected benefits from volunteering?
Getting involved has given us a real appreciation for the work that goes into managing our green spaces, and the skill of the Earth Trust team, staff and volunteers alike.
There’s something new to learn each time about our local flora and fauna, and the land management team seem to be experts on pretty much everything, whether it’s identifying a rare insect species, a distant bird call or a likely bat inhabitant, they’re a very impressive bunch!
And it’s lovely to see how appreciated the work is by the local community too; walkers often stop to chat about what we’re doing, and learn a bit more themselves.
It always feels good to get out on a Saturday after a long week at work and do something positive for the community. We’d definitely encourage anyone thinking about coming along to do so!
Caring for South Oxfordshire’s green spaces
With the help of our volunteers, we look after some 1,200 acres of woodland, wetland and farmland around Little Wittenham along with seven community reserves in Wallingford, Abingdon, Didcot and Shrivenham.
You don’t need any prior knowledge or experience to join a land management team, beginners are very welcome. Our monthly weekend volunteer group is out every second Saturday in Wallingford from 10am-1pm, whatever the weather. The tasks change from month to month with the season but you could be involved in:
- Creating and managing wildlife habitats using a range of techniques and activities
- Carrying out seasonal tasks, for instance in spring/summer grassland management, in autumn/winter – coppicing and scrub clearance
- Improving access for visitors through step building, path management and fencing
It’s a really friendly team and very rewarding work, take a look at the role profile for more details: