To celebrate 80 Years of Youth Groups, RSPB’s Richard Bashford shares his early memories of becoming a Youth Group Member at just 10 years old. He describes how the experiences and friendships he made there, sparked a life-long passion for nature and career working in conservation.
Joining my first RSPB youth group
My mum joined my brother and I up to the RSPB’s Young Ornithologists Club (YOC, and now known as RSPB Youth Groups) in 1976, I was 10 years old. Among the adult leaders, was Peter Holden who had become the national organiser of the YOC the previous year. My memory of those early years is a bit sketchy, but I do remember we learnt about birds, talked about birds, and went on local field trips to spot them. The first birds I have a record of sighting were Avocet and Spoonbill on a trip to RSPB Minsmere. I really enjoyed it at the YOC, but after the summer I left.
Photo above: A very young Richard's first visit to RSPB The Lodge in 1969
About a year later, two school friends of mine were talking about their weekly birdwatching trips to the local lakes and the YOC. Jealous, I joined again in 1978. These regular local walks and fortnightly YOC meetings at the Lodge – the RSPB’s headquarters at in Bedfordshire - really stirred within me a passion for the natural world, and it was so good to meet other children with the same interests.
We were very, very lucky with so many experienced staff on hand, like Peter Holden who led the group. We also enjoyed amazing guest, including well known conservationists such as Richard Porter telling us about birds of prey, Gareth Thomas dissecting a Mute Swan, and James Cadbury running a moth trapping session.
Several of us members were older and part of the 'Seniors group meeting in the grand House Meeting Room at The Lodge, under the watchful eye of W. H Hudson (British author, naturalist, and ornithologist) whose painting hung over the fireplace. Renowned ornithologist, David Fisher, led us for those meetings but also arranged field trips to Norfolk and Suffolk in the RSPB minibus. Then the big one – we went on a RSPB YOC residential holiday to Portland Bill. It was amazing – we saw so much, and I have detailed nature notes from that time, something Peter and other leaders encouraged us to do - our records were important and could help conservation.
My two school friend birders and I also joined in on the RSPB Local Group outings and I have vivid memories of visiting a local wood to see Nightjars – something everyone should do, birders or not! Around this time, the three of us were keen to visit another RSPB reserve and so cycled a forty-mile round trip to RSPB Fowlmere in Cambridgeshire.
My family holidays and school trips were all bird focussed during this time and pretty full on. I remember looking for Red Grouse and Dippers on school trips to Yorkshire (not species we saw in Bedfordshire), and my family holidays to the Isles of Scilly were amazing – I was never without my binoculars and saw Puffins, Peregrines, and Manx Shearwaters.
Photo above: Richard on a childhood holiday on the Isles of Scilly, 1970s
At this time, we also met a birdwatcher at our local lake who asked us if we wanted to look at the long staying Red-throated Diver through his telescope. Blimey – what a view! From that moment on, I saved up for a telescope using money from my weekly paper round – it took about a year but was totally worth it.
Discovering a career in conservation
The often inevitable lull in interest happened around 15-18 years old, but my interest in nature and the friendships made, provided some focus for me as I just scraped together some ‘O’ levels. With no desire or indeed qualification to do A levels, I sought work. Where else but with the RSPB? A series of roles including an excellent species protection contract searching for Stone Curlews and watching nesting Montagu’s Harriers got me firmly back into the birds. Then followed three ‘character building’ years spent driving the RSPB’s double decker ‘Birdbus’ around the UK – a project funded by the RSPB YOC and organised by among others, Peter Holden.
Photo above: Richard meets young nature lovers while touring the UK on the RSPB's Birdbus, a mobile information and activity centre funded by the YOC
I think it is fair to say, the YOC and my interest in nature were the gateway to some valuable work and life experiences. But perhaps even more significant was my decision at the age of 25 to leave work and to go to university and do an environmental degree – something I could not have done without my RSPB work experience and passion for the natural world ingrained thanks to the YOC.
After graduation, I worked for the British Trust for Ornithology organising the fledgling Breeding Bird Survey. Despite my recent graduation, the interview panel were more interested in my work experience and my background in ornithology, referencing the skills for recording birds and taking part in surveys as part of the YOC and RSPB Local Group.
Since 2001, I have been back at the RSPB, and for many years, I was managing one of our biggest events The Big Garden Birdwatch, as it grew from a YOC activity (yes – thanks to Peter Holden again) to the world’s largest garden wildlife bird survey.
Inspiring the next Generations
I am so pleased that RSPB Youth Groups are celebrating 80 years this year. I look around the RSPB and other conservation organisations, I speak to many passionate people about nature, only to find many of them started out in the YOC too. I am a firm believer that RSPB Youth Groups have a vital role to play to ensure children have the connection to nature I had as a child and still have today.
Photo above: Two children sat on a bench reading books about birds by Rob Coleman RSPB
It is harder now, with so many distractions and an increasing likelihood that children are living further away from greenspaces. RSPB youth groups and other similar organisations, play an essential role to raise awareness, relevance, and respect of nature wherever you are. I also believe we need to ensure we have a steady supply of people working for the RSPB who have had the sort of 'education' I was lucky enough to have.
I’m heading back to the Isles of Scilly in May 2024 – to celebrate my mum’s 80th birthday. I’m pleased to say, her early encouragement to me has gone full circle and rubbed off on her, as she is also now a fully-fledged birdwatcher.
Photo above: Richard and family birdwatching on the Isles of Scilly, 1970s
Perhaps you know a young person who would love to join our youth groups, or an adult who would enjoy the experience of joining us as a volunteer leader. If you do, or want to know more, please do get in touch at YGSupport@rspb.org.uk or find out more here.
RSPB youth group leaders are all voluntary positions, subject to DBS checks and the RSPB’s safe volunteer recruitment processes.
Note: As an organisation that works with vulnerable people, whether children or at-risk adults, the RSPB acknowledges its duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of vulnerable people. It is committed to ensuring its practices reflect statutory responsibilities, government guidance and complies with best practice and regulatory requirements wherever the RSPB operates as a charity.