Volunteer Opportunities

Could you help us deliver our Education Programme across Leicestershire and Rutland? We are looking for committed and enthusiastic volunteers to support our Education Team to lead and help with our Education Visits and Outreach Visits.

Education Visits involve school groups visiting Rutland Water Nature Reserve to take part in a day or half day of activities. One of our Education Staff is the main lead for the day with Education Volunteers leading small groups with an adult from the school to supervise the children.

Outreach Visits take our Education Programme into schools across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. The whole class science and woodland workshops take place in the school’s grounds or local green space. Education Volunteers support the delivery of the sessions alongside one of our Education Staff.

Also opportunity to support Events such as Wild Play family sessions which are delivered during school holidays at Burbage Common, Hinckley.

Hours required:

Education Visits and Outreach Visits are available for schools to book Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between June - July and September - October 2024. 
Dates will be sent out to volunteers each month with request to support. 

Full day is 5 - 6 hours and Half day 3.5 - 4.5 hours.
Starting from 9am to 3pm with lunchtime break.

Tasks involve:

Education Visits; Leading or helping with activities such as pond dipping, minibeast hunting, bird watching, tree trails and wild art.

Outreach Visits: Science workshops such as habitats, plants and seeds, trees or woodland workshops such as dens wild art, mud kitchen. 

Location:

Education Visits - Rutland Water Nature Reserve (Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre or Lyndon Visitor Centre.

Outreach Visits - Schools across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Skills required:

Experience of working with children desirable but not essential. The activities are held in various environments some with uneven terrain. 
Training will be provided in house and any external training where appropriate. 

Recruitment:
Application and informal interview.

As the role involves working with children, two satisfactory references and a DBS check will be required for a successful application.
A criminal record will not necessarily be a bar to obtaining the role.

Could you help us maintain our beautiful reserves across the east of Leicestershire and Rutland. We are looking for volunteers to help with all sorts of practical tasks on our reserves. Working parties, led by our Reserve Officers, take place during the week and and if you are interested in joining any of them then please do get in contact.

Hours required:

Working parties take place every Monday, Thursday, and Friday, and the exact day varies depending on reserve.

Each working party is 5 hours long (usually 9.30-2.30 or 10-3 depending on site location).

Tasks involve:

Practical habitat and reserve infrastructure work using hand tools. Tasks include scrub clearance (cutting and/or grubbing out) mowing and raking, hedge cutting, fence repairs/installation, gate installation.

Skills required:

No previous skills required, but please note that tasks are undertaken in remote places with no facilities and the terrain can often be challenging. Any training required will be given in situ or volunteers will be provided with adequate in-house or external training where appropriate, before using equipment.

Location:

“Eastern” reserves

Regular work party days: Monday, Thursday, and Friday

Reserve Officers: Sarah Bedford & Juliette Colaço

• Bloody Oaks Quarry
• Coombs Meadow
• Cribbs Meadow
• Great Merrible Wood
• Holwell Reserves
• Ketton Fields
• Ketton Quarry
• Launde Big Wood
• Launde Park Wood
• Lyddington Meadow
• Merry’s Meadow
• Priors Coppice
• Stonesby Quarry
• Wymondham Rough

Hours Required:

7 days per week (on a rota system and days/hours to suit). From March - October hours are 9am-1pm or 1pm-5pm and from November - February hours are 9.00am-12.30pm or 12.30pm - 4.00pm

Tasks involve:

We are looking for volunteers to help us welcome visitors at both the Lyndon Visitor Centre and Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre.  You will play a vital role as one of the first points of contact to the reserve, engaging with the public and telling them more about our learning, shopping, community events and activities.

• You will be asked to give our visitors a warm welcome whilst operating the reception desk and phone.
• Encourage donations and membership by talking to visitors about the work of the Trust.
• Operate the till to receive payment for admissions, tickets and retail purchases (training provided).
• Assist with enquiries for events and activities.
• Help in the shop with restocking, tidying and selling items.

Skills required:

No previous skills are required as training will be given. However, a friendly approach and an enthusiasm to help visitors is key to the role and a willingness to contribute positively towards the team and supporting staff in their day-to-day work. An interest in wildlife is an added bonus to help us engage our visitors.

Training will be delivered on how to work the till.  Volunteers will also have several ‘shadowing’ sessions at Lyndon Visitor Centre with both staff and other volunteers until they feel confident enough to manage the desk by themselves. There will always be staff on site and volunteers will never be left in the visitor centre alone. 

Location:

Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre or Lyndon Visitor Centre, Rutland Water Nature Reserve.

Imagine a wilder world on your doorstep, with more nature everywhere in both rural and urban areas! This is our vision for Leicestershire and Rutland, and we need you to be a part of it. Will you help us bring nature back and create a wilder future - for nature, for climate and for people?

Take Action with Team Wilder!

Imagine the difference it would make if a third of all gardens, school and office grounds, farmland, road verges and parks were all working for wildlife – not against it!

Team Wilder is a growing community of people from across our city, two counties and beyond, who are taking direct action for nature.

Anyone can be part of Team Wilder by taking even just 1 action for nature. From families to farmers, school children, community groups, local councils, businesses, land owners – people from all walks of life in our region are getting involved. If you’re already taking action for wildlife, you’re part of Team Wilder right now!

What actions can I take?

There is so much you can be doing to help our wildlife thrive.

• Pick up litter on your next walk
• Install a bird box in your garden
• Get together with workmates to create an office wildlife garden
• Leave part of your lawn unmown and grow wildflowers
• Join like-minded neighbours to lobby your MP to stand up for nature
• Join a local wildlife group
• Tag #teamwilder in your social media posts when you do an action for wildlife
• Become a member of your local Wildlife Trust
• Cut a hole in your fence to make a hedgehog highway

A full range of ideas about what actions you can take can be found here: https://www.lrwt.org.uk/actions

Map your wild actions

Combining our individual actions can create positive changes in the wildlife around us. Pin your action taken on our Interactive Map

Map your wild actions

Find out more about Team Wilder: https://www.lrwt.org.uk/team-wilder

Can you help? We are looking for volunteers to help survey woodlands this spring as part of an update of the Ancient Woodland Inventory for Leicestershire and Rutland. 

Ancient woodland

Ancient woodland in England is defined as a site which has been continuously wooded since 1600. This rare and important habitat was last mapped in the 1980s. The update involves more accurate digital mapping and includes sites smaller than 2ha which were omitted from the original inventory. As well as previously designated ancient woodland we have identified many small candidate woodlands omitted from the original inventory.

Volunteers

We are seeking help with surveying as many of these woods as possible. Don’t be put off if you think you haven’t got the necessary identification skills – surveys can vary from simply visiting a wood and taking photographs, to noting down ancient woodland features using a simple form, or to a full plant survey if that is what interests you. We would also like to hear from people who have investigated the history of their local area and have documentary evidence of woods in existence before the year 1800.

For more information see the article below.

To volunteer contact Andy Lear andy.lear@wildlifebcn.org

The Ancient Woodland Inventory (AWI) Update project is a countrywide, multi-partner funded project with an estimated cost of £2.5 million, over 3-5 years. The project has received funding from The Woodland Trust, DEFRA, Natural England and MHCLG (now DLUC).

The Leicestershire and Rutland Ancient Woodland Inventory update is being hosted by the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust working in collaboration with LRWT. Andy Lear is a former LRWT conservation officer who lives in Oakham and is familiar with many of the woods across the area.