Guest blog by Sue Ansell, Voluntary Community Engagement Intern for Giving Nature a Home in CardiffI am greeted by smiles and ‘hellos’ as I begin my six month internship with the Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff team at RSPB Cymru. It’s now November and it’s been eight months since I was made redundant from my last job at Energy Saving Trust. I previously worked supporting communities to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. However I also spent an enjoyable nine months working with RSPB Cymru (in this very office) in 2005/6, running policy campaigns with volunteers.
I wanted to get back in to nature conservation because I’m afraid for our wildlife. I have always loved the outdoors. I grew up playing in rivers and water meadows and woods; either catching bugs and tiny fish to look at; watching birds; getting muddy; climbing trees; pond-dipping; rock-pooling; swimming; making dens and looking at dew-encrusted spider webs in the fields. In recent years I’ve met more and more people who haven’t experienced the joys that nature can give. Our wildlife is declining and we‘re asking people to care enough to do something about it. How can we stand up for it if we have no connection to it in the first place?
The thrill of nature and discovery offers endless possibilities: a secret nesting place, a spider delicately and expertly weaving its web. The joy when a butterfly lands on you, or when a robin hops up the path to see if you’ve dug up any worms for its lunch! The surprise and pleasure of a grey seal coming to have a good look at you as you sit by the sea.
Above, clockwise from top left: Matryn Poyner, RSPB Images, Martyn Poyner & Eleanor Bentall
Even though I knew I wanted a change when I left my job, after a month or two I started to feel slightly on edge. How should I fill my time? Which jobs should I apply for? There were no jobs I particularly wanted to do and being made redundant can really knock your confidence.
I have experience gaps in my CV so I started volunteering to fill the gaps and my time, first with Buglife, then with the RSPB on the In the Eyes of the Animal virtual reality experience in Cardiff’s Bute Park. I suddenly began to feel useful and part of a team and enjoyed the social interaction. I became more involved with both organisations, creating wildflower meadows with Buglife and delivering nature sessions in schools with RSPB Cymru. My confidence grew.
When the advert for the Giving Nature a Home Internship was released I wasn’t sure whether to apply. Surely this was aimed at young people; graduates who need work experience? I felt too old and that I should be trying harder to find a job, but I was really enjoying volunteering and learning and there seemed to be nothing out there for me. My partner urged me to apply anyway.
When the team called to offer me the internship I was genuinely surprised and accepted it almost instantly, but with the excitement also came nervousness. For the first week I felt strange. It had been months since I’ve been in an office environment and it was a slight culture-shock. I suddenly couldn’t remember anything I’d read or been told; I couldn’t remember anyone’s name; I struggled to concentrate and was afraid the team would think they’d made a mistake.
But when I came into the office on my second Monday I felt totally different. I had a purpose; I had ideas; I smiled and chatted with people (and remembered some names!). I planned tasks and booked some school visits. I could do this. I started to see the opportunity ahead of me.
Aboove: robin by Nigel Blake & boy in tree by Nick Cunard (rspb-images.com) The RSPB cares about its people and I am now one of them; I feel valued. These people have potted me up with fresh soil, given me a good drink of water and put me on a sunny windowsill. And I am ready for it. I want to grow; I want to learn; to help; I want to make things happen.
Having been out of conservation for nearly a decade I am out of touch with some things. I can now catch up, learn about what’s happening in Cardiff, meet the people and organisations fighting to save our wildlife and get involved directly in projects. I can bring my own experience of project management and community support to the table. I’m excited about learning to deliver outreach sessions in schools and will also take the opportunity to learn about habitat management by visiting RSPB Cymru reserves and shadowing the City of Cardiff Council’s Park Rangers in our beautiful green spaces across the city. Best of all I can share all of this with an office full of people who also get excited by seeing an unfamiliar bird or bug and don’t mind getting muddy!
By the end of these six months I want to be ready to run more projects to enthuse the people of Cardiff about the natural world and get them fighting to save it. If you would like to volunteer for Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff please email Stacey.Baldwin@rspb.org.uk.