Outdoor Volunteering Roles

Spend more time outdoors and have a healthier lifestyle while you help care for local nature reserves, learn new skills and meet new friends!

This page has information about all of our outdoor volunteering roles. 

 

Nature Force

Join this midweek team and take part in a variety of hands-on tasks maintaining the Trust's nature reserves in Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull. Have fun, socialise, keep fit, enjoy fresh air and gain new skills.

No minimum commitment required and no experience is needed. Tools and training will be provided. Just bring waterproofs, boots and a packed lunch - we'll provide hot drinks and biscuits. Scroll down to download the role guideline.

Locations and tasks for Nature Force are on the Nature Force schedule.

Read our Nature Force and Friday Force Role Guidelines below.

Interested in Nature Force? Fill in our quick contact form

 

Survey Force

Survey Force Volunteers carry out wildlife recording helps us to record everything from butterflies and birds, to bats, otters, water voles, flowers, trees and more.

Read our Survey Force Volunteer Role Guideline below. 

Survey Force dates are on the Survey Force page.

Interested in Survey Force? Fill in our quick contact form

 

Local reserves group volunteers

Some reserves have a regular local group of volunteers that undertake a variety of tasks. Sessions are led by an experienced volunteer group leader. Sessions take place throughout the year, with more sessions during the winter months. No minimum commitment required and no prior experience needed, as full training is provided. Please bring waterproofs, boots and a packed lunch. Tools and safety equipment will be provided. 

Sessions run on various days at various times.

Read our Local Reserve Group Volunteer Role Guideline below.

Interested in joining a local group? Fill in our quick contact form

 

Local reserves group volunteer leaders

Run sessions with a group of volunteers at their local reserves on a regular basis. Liaising with the Director of Reserves and Community Engagement to produce and plan a schedule of work for the reserve to ensure that the sessions are conducted in a safe environment.

Knowledge of your local nature reserve is beneficial, although not essential. Previous habitat management experience is not required tools, safety equipment and training will be provided.

Read our Local Reserve Group Volunteer Leader Role Guideline below.

Interested in becoming a group volunteer leader? Fill in our quick contact form

 

Reserves ranger volunteer 

Be the eyes and ears of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust on the ground by visiting your nature reserve regularly and reporting back any interesting sightings, vandalism, fly tipping, site safety issues or any other significant behaviour. 

What do Reserve Rangers do? 

• Weekly / Twice monthly visit to the reserve

• Improve the reserve and promote the Trust to visitors

• Meet new people and learn new skills

• Protect wildlife and do your bit for the local community

• Monitor livestock

• No prior knowledge of the reserve is necessary

Read our Reserves Ranger Role Guideline below.

Interested in becoming a Reserves Ranger? Fill in our quick contact form

 

Tool store and workshop volunteer

Could you support our staff and volunteers carrying out practical habitat management by ensuring tools and equipment required to complete the work are maintained in a good state of repair?

What would you be doing?

• Maintaining and repairing a range of hand tools
• Sharpening various tools
• Helping maintain a safe, tidy and efficient workshop
• Keeping a record of spare parts & materials required and liaising with the reserves team to order them

Interested in becoming a Tool store volunteer? Fill in our quick contact form

 

Community Engagement

Could you attend and support our community engagement activities and engage with the general public and other volunteers about nature and the work we do? Most of our activities are held outdoors and depending on your interests you may be involved in assisting with community engagement events, talks or practical taster sessions.

What do Community Engagement volunteers do?

• Run stalls
• Co-lead wildlife walks
• Run children’s craft activities
• Support practical habitat management tasks 

Read our Community Engagement volunteer Role Guideline below.

Interested in becoming a Community Engagement volunteer? Fill in our quick contact form

 

Dunsmore Living Landscape

The Dunsmore Living Landscape scheme aims to reconnect Warwickshire’s ancient woodlands, hedgerows and grasslands, by reconnecting people with their local wild places

Join us to get stuck in with practical habitat management and surveying in this beautiful area. We are running weekly volunteer days every Friday and alternate Tuesdays. Meet at Brandon Marsh Nature Centre, CV3 3GW, 9.30-15.30. Tasks include hedgerow restoration, coppicing, meadow management and wildflower surveying. 

This project works in Wappenbury Wood, Ryton Wood and across partner sites including Coombe Country Park and Ryton Pools Country Park. Find out more about the areas you can volunteer in.

Read our Dunsmore volunteer role guideline below. 

Interested in becoming a Dunsmore volunteer? Fill in our quick contact form

 

Brandon Marsh Voluntary Conservation Team

The day to day management of Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve is carried out by the Brandon Marsh Voluntary Conservation Team (BMVCT) consistent with the current Brandon Marsh SSSI Management Plan.

The Team has a work party at Brandon Marsh every Thursday throughout the year starting at 9.30am. Find out more about the BMVCT.

Interested? Please contact:
t: 024 7630 2912
e: volunteer@wkwt.org.uk

Read the BMVCT volunteer role guideline below. 

 

Tame Valley Wetlands: Practical Conservation Volunteer

Get hands on with the Tame Valley Wetland Project across east Birmingham, North Warwickshire, south-east Staffordshire. Join us on Tuesdays. at least once a month, or every week. Find out more about the Tame Valley Wetlands Project

The type of work you will be involved with includes:

Helping improve the fragmented and degraded landscape of the Tame Valley, conserving and restoring natural heritage features. Tasks will include woodland, wetland and grassland management, removal of invasive non-nature species, wildlife surveying, bird box making and litter picking.

We also have opportunities for Youth volunteers. 

You’ll get a chance to enjoy some wild and beautiful places! Interested? Find out more about this opportunity.

 

Project volunteers

As a project volunteer you will assist the Project/Reserves Officer to maintain and enhance Warwickshire Wildlife Trust reserves. 

Read our Project volunteer role guideline below. 

We have current projects to get involved with!

• Bishops Hill: Monday mornings, 10am – 1pm fortnightly
• Ufton Fields: Tuesday mornings, 10am – 1pm fortnightly
• Bubbenhall Wood: Thursday 9.30am-3pm
• Welcombe Hills: Friday mornings, 10am – 1pm monthly
• Oakley Wood: Sunday mornings, 10am – 1pm monthly
• Dunsmore woodlands, near Ryton-on-Dunsmore: Sundays monthly, 10am onwards

Bishop's Hill Group volunteer

Join the work party at Bishop's Hill to get involved with a wide variety of practical tasks to maintain and enhance the reserve. Tasks vary throughout the year. There is a focus on scrub clearance over the winter months and but tasks range from meadow cutting in the summer to hedge laying in the winter.  

Read our Bishop's Hill Group volunteer role guideline below. 

Woodland Craft volunteer 

As a Woodland Craft Volunteer you will help to support us through selecting and processing timber into innovative products that can be sold to help fund woodland management on our nature reserves.

Tasks will be varied and develop based on product sales and volunteer skills sets. The work involves looking at timber produced through woodland management, deciding on the products  that can be created with it, and processing them to be sold or utilised on nature reserves. Examples of products created include pea sticks, hedging stakes and charcoal, but innovation is encouraged and we are open to trying new ideas. Often the work will involve the use of hand tools, and occasional mechanical and powered equipment such as chainsaws, sanders and drills.

Read our Woodland Craft volunteer role guideline below. 

Peregrine Watch

Peregrine Watch has been running since 2013, giving the public a closer view of the stunning peregrine falcons living in our towns and cities.  If you have a particular passion for birds of prey then this is an opportunity to share your passion with others. We need your help to enable local people to view Peregrines and learn more about them. You will be the friendly face representing the Trust and helping us to conserve our birds of prey.

Read our Peregrine Watch volunteer role guideline below. 

Leamington Green Connections

Our new Leamington Green Connections project will have volunteer groups at Leam Valley and Oakley Wood carrying out a wide variety of practical tasks to maintain and enhance the reserves. Tasks you will be involved with vary throughout the year, ranging from meadow cutting in the summer to hedge laying and scrub clearance in the winter.  

Read our Leamington Green Connections volunteer role guideline below. 

TEaM Bushcraft Support Volunteers

As a Project Volunteer, you will assist the TEaM Project staff with the delivery of bushcraft for wellbeing programmes to people with poor mental health/wellbeing.

Tasks will include the support of set-up, delivery and pack-down of bushcraft sessions at Brandon Marsh and other various locations within Warwickshire.  Tasks will include set-up of bush-tarps, fire lighting and fire management, safe use of Kelly-kettles, support of participants in woodland skills such as green wood-working, cordage, weaving, charcoal making and new tasks introduced during courses all of which will involve tool use (e.g. bush-knives, saws, fire-steels). Please note: Training will be given where needed and no power tool use is required.

Interested in becoming a Project volunteer? Fill in our quick contact form

 

Minimum age:

To volunteer with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust you must be aged 18 or over. We occasionally have opportunities for volunteers under the age of 18 but you will need to be accompanied by a responsible adult aged 25 or over.

If you have any other questions about health and safety, ours and your responsibilities, how we work, who we work with, or anything else please just ask - we probably have the answer to hand or we’ll do our best to find out.

To get a better idea of what it's like to volunteer with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, have a read of our volunteer profiles.