This week not only
marks the start of a new month and summer (although it might not feel like it
at the moment with the damp and windy weather, okay maybe it does feel like a
normal British summer) it is also volunteers’ week. If you have ever been a
volunteer yourself and/or worked with volunteers you will know that a week is
not long enough to celebrate and be thankful for the contributions that
volunteers make to an organisation but at least it is a way of volunteers
getting the recognition that they deserve. I have done a variety of voluntary
work such as volunteering at Birmingham nature centre, in a charity shop, my
local biological record centre and as a hide guide but my most long-term
volunteering has involved practical conservation work.
I first became a
volunteer in 2009 when I was at university and joined the Birmingham University
Conservation Volunteers (BUCV) it had never occurred to me beforehand to ever
volunteer. I’m not the type of person to do something just to put it on my CV
for me volunteering with BUCV was my opportunity to try something different, I
had never done any practical conservation work before and it was a great escape
from the dreaded assignments and revision that came with university life and
more importantly helped to get me out of my hermit shell. One of the sites that
I volunteered at with BUCV was RSPB Sandwell Valley I will always remember my
first time volunteering at the reserve because the task involved helping to
make a wigwam to provide a refuge for wildlife. I remember one of the RSPB
volunteers asking me where I had travelled from and whether I had been to the
reserve before, the reserve is only a couple of miles from where I live and I
had to embarrassingly admit that I had never been to the reserve before. I
always enjoyed volunteering at the RSPB reserve with BUCV because not only did
I get to have a lie in on a Sunday before meeting the group, I also found that
it was a tranquil place to get some fresh air and relax before being back in a
lecture theatre on Monday morning.
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| Volunteering with BUCV at RSPB reserve |
Since I enjoyed
volunteering at the reserve I decided to become a volunteer with the RSPB. I
started volunteering during the summer break from university. Anyone that has
ever volunteered to do practical conservation work in the summer will know that
one of the main tasks is removing Himalayan balsam. What is Himalayan balsam
you might ask, well it is an invasive plant species because it rapidly
colonises an area especially river banks, once you know what Himalayan balsam looks
like you see it everywhere. I still have flashbacks to my time pulling Himalayan
balsam the sound of the stems breaking, the sweet smell and if you pull it too
late in the season the feeling of the seeds bursting into your face and because
it grows in damp areas the 100s of mosquito bites that you acquire as a souvenir.
Despite this though I continued to volunteer.
Being a practical
conservation volunteer also involves being out in all the elements the weather
is only on occasions perfect goldilocks weather, not too cold or too hot,
majority of the time it is at opposite ends of the meteorological spectrum, torrential
rain or a sizzling heatwave. There is also the outdoorsy look that you develop
such as twigs in your hair and mud on your face which you didn’t realise was
there until you look in the mirror when you get home and if you are lucky you
can wear stylish waders (depending on the task).
So you might be
thinking well why do you do it then? I know I haven’t made it sound appealing with
the weather and mosquitos bites but it’s the volunteer days in the pouring rain
and those that have given me lovely t-shirt tans that have given me the most prominent
memories of volunteering in conservation. Don’t get me wrong I do feel bonkers
for doing it sometimes but in
one volunteer day you get a better work out than you would in a gym and a free
spa treatment as the mud mask that you end up wearing at the end of the day is
free. Most importantly though it’s that feeling of making a difference to conserve wildlife and the camaraderie
that develops between you and the volunteers that gives me a real buzz, not to
mention the wildlife that you get to see whilst you are doing the task
(sometimes it’s a nice excuse to take a breather) which is more valuable than just writing something on a piece of paper.
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| Peacock butterfly on a sunny volunteer day |
Whilst doing my
training placement with The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country
I was fortunate to be able to lead groups of volunteers doing
conservation work, it was quite strange being the person doing the tools talk instead
of the one having to listen to it, let’s be honest everybody loves a good tools
talk don’t they?. I thoroughly enjoyed my time working with the volunteers
because I was able to pass on some of the knowledge that I had gained through volunteering
and my training, as well as sharing my love for wildlife. I learnt two things
through being a volunteer myself and leading volunteers 1) A tea and biscuit
supply is essential, the consequences of volunteers with sharp tools and low
caffeine levels are not worth thinking about 2) Never underestimate volunteers,
because the work they do is brilliant!
I’ve probably been labelled a lot of stuff
in my life but I will never regret being labelled a volunteer. So if you have ever considered being a volunteer then do it!
