Volunteers make a difference

Your Wildlife Trust first got involved with Ashton’s Field in 2018 when the owners, The Land Trust, appointed us as site managers. This nine-hectare site in Salford is a former coal mine squashed between a motorway, gradually spreading industrial estates and a large housing estate. In many ways that description makes it sound unpromising and I’m sure won’t make you want to rush out to visit.

Despite this it is an oasis of green space providing a lifeline for the surrounding communities whether it be through a quiet walk to get the baby to sleep, five minutes of peace on the way home from school, a space to walk the dog or to undertake exercise through Couch to 5K.

When we first became involved we found that the site was well loved but "nature" wasn’t really part of the thinking as we spoke to people. Many couldn’t understand what we were doing and perceived that we were letting the site become untidy by not cutting the grass. When we repollarded a row of trees we were accused of vandalism. Creating new ponds was "attracting rats".

Often as an employee of a conservation organisation we can receive backlash from people who see us as being from outside the community and imposing our ideas on them. Our secret weapon is our wonderful volunteers. It’s hard to argue with someone who believes in something so strongly that they’ve given up their precious time for it.

Our wonderful volunteers have tackled every job you can think of on site from planting native wildflowers in the plantation woodland, to digging new ponds and scrapes, removing invasive species, hedgelaying, coppicing, grass cutting and raking, sowing yellow rattle to tidying up after raves, daily litter picking, weekly bird surveys, small mammal surveys, grassland surveys, leading bat walks and dawn choruses… all with a smile on their faces whatever the weather.

Over time the work that our volunteers do and the conversations they have whilst on site have won over the community as more and more people get involved, approach us to ask questions and make suggestions about what we should do or how we should do it.

It turns out that for many people nature was always part of the thinking about the site but people didn’t have a community to share it with.

I’m sure all our volunteers know that whenever they pick up a spade, report a wildlife sighting or help at an event that they are contributing to the work of the Trust and to wildlife. I hope they know that they are also fostering a community, spreading enthusiasm and inspiration and providing the crutch that we need as staff from time to time when criticism gets a bit too much.

Thank you to all our fantastic volunteers, you are all superstars and make the Wildlife Trusts and the sites we work on such a wonderful place to be.

Volunteers are the heartbeat of Lancashire Wildlife Trust. The many hundreds of volunteers give thousands of hours of their time to the Trust every year.

They help more people engage, connect and care about the environment both in rural and urban settings.

The range of volunteering roles they undertake for The Trust is astounding. The roles include craft volunteers, species recorders, red squirrel volunteers, maintenance volunteers, welcome centre volunteers, Trustees, Youth Council, and Speaker Team to name a few.

Some volunteers help out in more than one role or location on a diverse range of tasks.

Many have volunteered with the Trust for decades. Without our volunteers incredible passion and commitment the Trust would cease to achieve what it does for the natural world and people in our region.

Emma Bartlett Volunteer Manager

Jamie’s volunteer story

I’m Jamie, a volunteer for the Nature and Wellbeing service in the Lancashire Wildlife Trust. My time is spent between the Blackburn greenhouse project and Chorley allotments, where I began my journey.

I heard about Myplace - now the nature and wellbeing service – through my psychologist. My dad had been looking for possible job or volunteer opportunities to help me get out and improve my mental health, as well as practice my social skills that I’ve struggled with due to my Asperger’s.

We had a chat with Jo, the Chorley project officer, and discussed what activities we would do on the sessions such as gardening, bush craft and going on nature walks. I began as a participant in November of 2021 and after a lot of learning and building up my confidence, signed up as a volunteer.

Since my volunteering is about wellbeing, It’s a different experience to that of a conservation volunteer. My main focus is on making participants feel welcomed and understood, as well as supervising while we carry out conservation tasks and maintain our allotment. I know what it’s like for people who are lonely or struggle with their mental health, having been through it all myself, and I’m so glad I can use my experience in a positive way by helping similar people.

I think it’s important we realise how much we can help ourselves physically and mentally through nature, and that simply being outside connecting and helping people as well as wildlife is a healing experience. It’s so rewarding seeing people gain confidence and skills every week, and knowing I am a part of that process. I believe it’s important to be kind most of all, to those around us and to nature, and through this we are rewarded with a better future for everyone.

I truly feel I can now look forward in life, eager to help out every week and progress, rather than looking back to the past and wishing I’d done more. Volunteering is the best thing I’ve ever done and I’m still learning and growing all the time.

I’ve always felt understood and welcomed unconditionally even when I haven’t felt 100%, which has helped me to appreciate who I am despite any challenges I have to overcome. I’d like to encourage you to join us, no matter your background or ability, as everyone has something to give back to nature and others, whether it’s their strength, knowledge or kindness.

Lunt Meadows Archaeology Volunteer, Lizzie Ehlen

Lizzie has been an archaeology volunteer for the Merseyside team’s Mesolithic and Modern Life Project since 2021, after attending a webinar all about Lunt Meadow’s stone age past and life in the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age).

Initially, Lizzie became involved because she was interested in learning experimental archaeology skills. With training from project partners, the University of Chester Archaeology and History Department, Lunt volunteers, like Lizzie, have been learning how to make everyday Stone Age items. This is with the aim of sharing these skills on public workshops on the nature reserve and in the community.

There are still lots of skills to learn, but Lizzie has already been able to teach the public how to use a bow drill, make cordage from plants and make a fishing net on Stone Age craft days.

Lizzie’s involvement hasn’t stopped here either, as she gets involved in the many other areas of archaeology at Lunt. Lizzie is helping the Museum of Liverpool’s Curator of Prehistoric Archaeology and project partner, Ron Cowell, excavate the remains of Lunt Meadows’ 9000-yearold camp.

Lizzie also helps the Lunt team to ‘sieve’ or pan bags of soil excavated from the dig site, interpreting their contents, and recording any organic remains or stone tools.

Bay Volunteers

During school holidays, Lizzie assists with public panning events too, enabling children and adults to have a go at panning for themselves. It can be difficult to know what you are looking for in the soil when you first have a go at panning, so Lizzie explains how to identify and record the different items that are found, such as burned hazelnut shells, charcoal, or stone tools (called microliths).

After these events, Lizzie works alongside other volunteers to organize the items found and input the hand-written records from panning into a spreadsheet on the computer. Once all the information is digitized, the team can produce maps and look at how stone age people used the different sections of the camp to carry out activities.

Getting involved in the archaeology work at Lunt Meadows is a chance to learn specialist hands-on skills with a supportive and friendly group of people who share an interest in history and archaeology.

By volunteering, Lizzie is not only helping the project team and Lunt’s visitors learn about the nature reserve’s special heritage, she is contributing to nationally significant research about this fascinating time in human history.

Here at The Bay: Blueprint for Recovery, we are fortunate to have some wonderful volunteers who we rely on to help run our Nature & Wellbeing sessions and community events.

Carol and Owen Fawcett are two enthusiastic and dedicated Bay volunteers, who we would like to give a special thanks to and spotlight their hard work.

Their knowledge on local wildlife is an asset to our team, with Owen regularly teaching us all about the different Lichen’s he has found, and how to classify them. Their extensive knowledge has been particularly useful on helping on events such as wildflower walks, strandline surveys and beach cleans. Not only do they volunteer regularly at our community events, but they are also very keen shark egg case hunters.

Last year alone they collected 7,241 egg cases. Thanks to their efforts they have awarded the Bay a spot in the top 5 shark egg case hunters in the whole UK! Carol told us “It's the Shark Trust 20th anniversary in 2023 and we are really looking forward to more egg case hunt events with The Bay.”

The Bay; Blueprint for recovery, runs free events every month across the whole of Morecambe area, from Fleetwood to Barrow.

If you would like to join us on our events, check out thebay.org.uk/events to find out more. Chloe Desmond, Trainee for The Bay: Blueprint for Recovery (Wyre Team).