This week we take a look at how one young man went from bored teenager to RSPB staff member all thanks to volunteering!
I was 14. A bored, home educated teenager with lots of free time. One spring day, a visit to the Aren't Birds Brilliant! project at Carsington Water changed everything! Set in the Wildlife Centre hide at the beautiful Carsington Water reservoir run by Severn Trent, the friendly and knowledgeable RSPB volunteers welcomed me in and got to work showing me some fantastic birds, most of which I had never even heard of!
I had never been very bothered about wildlife, I respected it, but that was about it. When I left that hide about half an hour later, I had fallen in love with nature, mesmerised by the hoard of oystercatchers, kingfishers and lapwings. I immediately signed up as a volunteer, and started going in every week to spot some birds and help the visitors see what's around. I loved every minute of it! It really is a fantastic feeling to be able to give a child who's perhaps never even been out of the city a pair of bins and a sparrow to look at and to just see the excitement grow on their face! Mum and dad then get involved too, and before you know it you're filling in a family membership form, just knowing that they will love every minute of it!
About a year later, I heard about a part time summer Retail Assistant position going at the RSPB Shop on the site, and I went for it- and got it! Three years on, and I am now full time Assistant Manager- all thanks to volunteering. I love my job, and highly recommend volunteering to anyone, it's such a fantastic thing to do, and can lead on to great things! It helped me to come out of my shy little cocoon, gave me confidence, filled up some of my free time and above all, brought me in touch with nature.
Here at the RSPB Shop at Carsington Water, we are currently looking for volunteer retail assistants (particularly for Saturdays!) to help run the shop and engage the customers, and a couple of enthusiastic, outgoing volunteers to run weekend activities, so please email me if you're interested! Contact Tom at Tom.gillot@rspb.org.uk