From counting farmland birds in a national park to helping RSPB supporters to identify the wildlife in their gardens, Dawn Butterworth, Volunteering Development Manager, shares some of the volunteer roles you could dive into this year.
January can be a tough month for many of us, with the cold setting in and the glittering lights of Christmas and New Year fading into the distance, but it’s also a month peppered with fresh starts and new beginnings. It’s often a time of setting new goals, thinking about aspirations for the year ahead and hope for what’s to come.
And what could be a better goal than to help nature flourish a little more this year?
While January can seem dank and dreary at times, there are always opportunities to get involved with volunteering at the RSPB and the list of things to get stuck into might be more varied than you think!
In this blog we’ve rounded up a taster of just some of the volunteer roles you could dive into this year:
Whether you’re looking for volunteering you can do from the comfort of your own home or something where you can get outside on a nature reserve; maybe you want to work with local communities, young people, or chat to members of the public, or perhaps you have a unique skill set to contribute – expert organisational skills or brilliant social media ideas?? – there is an opportunity for everyone to make a difference. Volunteer roles can be really flexible depending on the role you choose so you can easily find one to suit your availability, from a couple of hours a month or a couple of days a week.
The RSPB has been conducting annual surveys of breeding Curlew, Lapwing, Redshank, Snipe and Oystercatcher in the Forest of Bowland for 10 years, providing invaluable information about the impact of wildlife friendly farming practices on the survival of these amazing birds. Each year the team recruit an army of volunteers to help survey key sites in the national park throughout spring and summer. Sturdy footwear required for this opportunity to develop hands on skills in species surveying and contribute to the conservation of some of England’s most charismatic farmland birds!
Breeding waders surveyor in the Forest of Bowland
Do you know your Herring Gulls from your Black-headed Gulls, or a Goldfinch from a Goldcrest? Every day the RSPB gets sent all kinds of wonderful wildlife questions and photos of species people have seen in their gardens, on their walks and through their windows. And we love getting them! We have a team of wildlife experts that help answer these, but we often need more experts to help give people the answers they are looking for more quickly. If you have excellent bird ID knowledge and are looking for an opportunity to make a really positive contribution to nature conservation, but don’t have the time or ability to be outside each week, this could be a perfect role for you!
Wildlife identification volunteer
““I am very pleased with my decision to volunteer for the RSPB. I enjoy every day that I am on the reserve and with your careful support, guidance and patience I have learnt many new skills, hugely improved my knowledge and made new friends.” RSPB reserve volunteer
The RSPB manages a big network of nature reserves which are havens for wildlife, and importantly very special places for people of all ages and abilities to visit and experience some of the UK’s beautiful landscapes and mind-blowing nature. Volunteers are essential for providing a warm welcome to visitors and sharing their enthusiasm for the natural world, and there are always opportunities for friendly communicators to join reserve teams!
RSPB reserves often have cafes and shops for visitors to enjoy, and these are also run by volunteers. You can learn more about how the RSPB operates on a reserve, and ways that we are trying to make our cafes greener as well as helping to fund our nature conservation through every sale.
RSPB Bowling Green visitor centre volunteers
Café volunteers at St Aidan’s nature reserve, West Yorkshire
Volunteers can do anything, and this role is a great example of that. Volunteer Coordinators across England assist teams by planning for and recruiting other volunteers – vol-ception anyone? The volunteer roles are created to match whatever the team need, organising tasks, preparing induction plans, arranging events and so much more.
If you are super organised and love dealing with people, this type of role might just be right for you. It is flexible and can be done from home or from an office or reserve, whatever suits you and the team best.
Volunteer coordinator in Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Across the RSPB we work with a range of partners to connect more young people with nature and there are plenty of opportunities to get involved with this work. For example, this spring we’ll be running a series of events with Girlguiding in London to help young people access their local green space, deepen their connection with nature, and encourage them to look after it for the future. If you’re keen to share your enthusiasm of nature with the next generation keep an eye out for opportunities with our youth programmes.
Girlguiding Nature Discovery Day event helper
Our volunteer-led Local Groups are amazing. We have 111 throughout England so there is bound to be one near you, and they are always looking for new members or help getting the word out about local nature. These groups do brilliant work, from organising talks and walks, to local habitat conservation, events and much more.
Whether you’d like to attend your Local Group’s upcoming events or get involved with helping them grow and do more locally, check out the opportunities near you or on the website here.
In England, we’re lucky enough to have over 9,000 volunteers working together to save nature. We couldn’t do our work without them. Last year these incredible volunteers did around 446,000 hours of work, in 11,000 different roles!
As we enter a new year we often feel that we want to do more for our wellbeing and volunteering is a great way to do this. It helps us to connect with people, be active, take notice of what is around us, learn new skills and of course a sense of giving. In fact 87% of RSPB volunteers agree that volunteering with the RSPB improves their health & wellbeing, all while being part of the UK’s biggest movement for nature.
To find remote volunteer roles or roles near you visit the RSPB website here.
If you can’t find anything right now that suits your skill set or situation, get in touch with the volunteering team on engvolunteers@rspb.org.uk and we’ll help you find the right fit. The roles here are not one-offs, so if you see something you like but not in your area, feel free to get in touch.
Here’s a few other current volunteer roles:
Online administrator
Market researcher
Research and design for a student placement programme
Image credits:
Main image: Volunteer climbers help with GPS tagging project at Bempton Cliffs (Sam Turley; rspb-images.com)
Farmland bird surveyor in Gloucestershire (Colin Wilkinson; rspb-images.com)
Volunteer talks to Visitors at RSPB Flatford Wildlife Garden (Sam Turley; rspb-images.com)
Volunteer beach wardens in Norfolk (Sam Turley; rspb-image.com)
Girlguides at RSPB Minsmere (Steve Everett)