Weekly update, 30th January

 

A glorious sunny hint of spring g'day to you all! There are definite signs of spring at Wallingford Castle Meadows where winter aconite (above) and snowdrops have been spotted.

A huge thanks to those who have put their hands up for Lambing in the last week and another big thanks to those that have so far filled in the volunteer contact preferences form - if you haven't yet, it only takes two seconds!

Another fun-filled half term is just round the corner - read on for more about how you can help out...

Don't forget it's the first Saturday of the month this weekend which means it's Saturday Group at Abbey Fishponds. Thursday Group, I'm out with you to say hello this week! Let's hope for some more sun...

Have a lovely week,

Hannah
Volunteering Development Manager

Coming up this week:

Thursday Group (Abingdon), 1st February

Thank you to everyone who came out last week, the group made real progress coppicing the willow at Little Homes Field near Thrupp Lake. This week they’ll be carrying on where they left off including having a bonfire! As usual the day will be from 10am-3pm(ish) and do bring wellies as there are areas which are now really wet underfoot, thanks to all that rain over the weekend! Please meet at the metal vehicle gate - accessed via Tuckwell’s yard (orange arrow on Streetmap). Please let Lucy know whether you can make it.

Friday Group (Little Wittenham), 2nd February

It's more hedgelaying for the group at Paradise Wood this week. Please meet Adam outside the workshop just below the visitors car park at the Earth Trust Centre at 9am if you would like to take part.

Saturday Group (Abbey Fishponds), 3rd February

Thanks to all who came out last month, the group did a brilliant job of topping up the woodchip on the footpaths! For this month’s work party they’ll be carrying on with some reedbed/fen cutting and raking in a wet section of the reserve (so wellies are a must!) and a couple of other jobs. As usual please meet Lucy at 9.30am at the Hadland Road entrance to Abbey Fishponds (OX14 3XW or orange arrow on Streetmap). Please park considerately as this is a residential area. If you intend to come along, please let Lucy know.

In other news

Wildlife Wednesday at Mowbray Fiends, 14th February

Half term is just around the corner so we've got a week of activities to keep the young ones busy! As always, Wildlife Wednesday will be out and about, this time at Mowbray Fields in Didcot (OX11 8SU). It's a brilliant event that invites families to come out and learn about the nature just on their doorstep. These sessions are always greatly helped by the assistance of volunteers, so whether you've done this with us before or it's all brand new and extra exciting, come along and have some fun! Drop us a line to find out more.

Weekly update, 23rd January

Happy Tuesday! I hope you're all well. This week we have a request from our resident shepherd for volunteers along with my weekly "have you signed up for Lambing yet?" call...!

Thursday and Friday groups will be out in full force this week so as always, read on for the details. I'll be joining Friday folk this week to get stuck in so do bear with the absolute beginner! Luckily, no experience is necessary to come along to any of our Conservation Groups, just enthusiasm, so for anyone that's been thinking about coming along, don't worry you won't be the only newbie this week :)

Once again a ginormous thank you to those of you that have said yes to Lambing in March. And to those that are thinking about it, give me a shout and join the fun! There, that's my weekly Lambing bit done...

Don't forget to let us know if you'd like to keep receiving this bulletin! It only takes a minute to fill in this quick form.

Have a great week,

Hannah

Volunteering Development Manager

Coming up this week...

Thursday Group (Abingdon), 25th January

This week the group will be carrying on where they left off, coppicing willow at Thrupp Lake, but with the addition of a bonfire! As usual the day will be from 10am-3pm(ish) and do bring wellies as there are areas which are now really wet underfoot, thanks to all that rain over the weekend! Please meet at the metal vehicle gate into Little Homes Field - accessed via Tuckwell’s yard (orange arrow on the streetmap link here) and let Lucy know if you plan to come along.

Friday Group (Little Wittenham), 26th January

The team will be heading back to the hedge near Paradise Wood this week to carry on with their stretch of hedgelaying. As always if you would like to take part please meet Adam outside the workshop just below the visitors car park at the Earth Trust Centre at 9am.

In other news

Assistant Shepherds Required!

As you may know, lambing season is nearly upon us! Emma Blomfield, our resident shepherd, is currently looking for one or two students/volunteers to help with her 350 flock of mostly Lleyn ewes. The first lambs are due mid-March but there are a later bunch lambing mid-April to May so it's going to be a very busy time! This is an ideal opportunity for students to learn and gain relevant work experience or for volunteers looking to add to their CV or knowledge base.

Hours can be flexible and part time to suit individual situations and Emma is happy to take on a beginner. There will be school groups and the general public visiting throughout the lambing season so you will need good people skills and be happy to comply with excellent health and safety.

Important: unfortunately we cannot take volunteers under the age of 16 for this role. This is most suited to students studying relevant college courses or other qualifications e.g. aiming towards veterinary studies/animal care.

If you'd like to find out more, just send me an email.

Weekly update, 16th January

How are we all? Splendid and dandy I hope. Thanks to all those who have already put their hands up for Lambing in March, you are my heroes! There's still plenty of room for more additions to the team so if you think you might be interested in helping out at our biggest event of the year, please let me know. 

This week marks the beginning of the campaign to make sure you still hear from us in May (if you would still like that to be the case!). Read on for more information, this one's really important...

Have a lovely week,

Hannah

Volunteering Development Manager

Coming up this week...

Thursday Group (Abingdon), 18th January

This week the group will be heading to Thrupp Lake to make a start on the biannual coppicing of the willow and silver birch compartments in one of the conservation areas. Don't forget your wellies as it's a bit wet underfoot! Meet at the metal vehicle gate into Little Homes Field, accessed via Tuckwell’s yard, at 10am; please let Lucy know if you can make it.

Friday Group (Little Wittenham), 19th January

The team will be heading into Little Wittenham Wood this Friday, carrying on from where Sunday Group left off on the annual coppicing around the woodland ponds. If you would like to join in please meet Adam outside the workshop just below the visitors car park at the Earth Trust Centre at 9am.

In other news

Would you like to keep hearing about volunteering? You need to tell us!

You may or may not be aware that there are new data protection regulations coming into play in May influencing how we communicate with our supporters. In a nutshell, you have greater control over what you hear about from your favourite charities so we need your explicit consent to send you anything. I would love it if all 500-odd of you lovely registered volunteers would like to continue to receive this bulletin but I need your permission to send it to you after May, so we're making sure that if you'd like to hear from us at all, you've told us. Those are the new rules! 

All you need to do to stay on the mailing list is head to this very quick form and make sure you say yes to the Volunteer Bulletin. There are also other opportunities to hear about all the exciting work done at the Earth Trust. Of course if you would prefer to no longer receive the emails you can always hit unsubscribe at the bottom at any time or tell us via the form.

Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions. Thank you!

Good news for young volunteers!

We've had a lot of enquiries over the last year from young people who would like to join the conservation groups, a lot of whom are working towards their Duke of Edinburgh. You may remember us advertising for a volunteer role before Christmas to help us alleviate our problem of not having the capacity to welcome younger volunteers that would keep everyone safe and looked after. Well, we now have a lovely couple of volunteer leaders ready to come along to Sunday Group (second Sunday of the month)! This means that anyone from the age of 14 and up who would like to come and have a go at some conservation volunteering on a Sunday are most welcome to join. Hooray! Drop me a line if you know a young person who'd like to come along.

Weekly update, 9th January

Hope you're all doing well! The photo above is a snap of Thursday Group getting back to it last week, many thanks to all who came along. Sunday Group is back this weekend so if you fancy joining in, meet Adam at the workshop next to the Centre car park at 9am.

Have a lovely week,

Hannah
Volunteering Development Manager

What the volunteers have been up to:

Thursday Group (Abingdon), 4th January and Saturday Group, 6th January

The groups got stuck into working off all those mince pies by starting the annual cutting of the reedbed at Abbey Fishponds, as well as fen cutting and lots of raking - wellies were a must! The next sessions are 11th January for Thursday Group and 3rd February for Saturday Group.

Coming up...

Lambing!

That's right, before we know it Lambing 2018 will be upon us and you know what that means, a HUGE call to arms for as many volunteers as possible to lend a hand on what will be the busiest four days of our year! 

The dates are: 17th-18th March and 24th-25th March, from around 9am until 5pm.

We really do need as much help as possible over these weekends. We need volunteers across the entire site including on admissions, children's crafts and activities, Poem Tree Cafe and information points. We feed everyone a hearty lunch on these days to keep everyone going and keep you topped up with all the tea and coffee you can manage!

These are really great days and everyone is part of the team. It's a great one for meeting people, engaging with the public and getting stuck in with something maybe a little different from the usual.

Please do drop me a line if you are able to make any of the dates. At this stage I'm making lists so more info will get sent out as time goes on but it would be brilliant to start taking names so I can get some sleep between now and then! Everyone who came along last year was bloomin' brilliant and we'd love to have the same again this year. 

Weekly update, 3rd January

A very happy new year to you all! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a bit of down time to recharge the batteries. Now the tinsel is packed away, the chocolates are just about finished and Doctor Who is over for another few months, we're back to normal and the conservation groups are back too: Thursday, Friday and Saturday are all systems a go this week.

Have a lovely week,

Hannah
Volunteering Development Manager

What the volunteers have been up to:

Thurday Group (Abingdon), 21st December

For the last session before Christmas the team headed over to Thrupp Lake to do a few different tasks including bringing in the tern rafts, coppicing some willow and making a start on a willow screen where the bird hide used to be. The next session is 4th January.

Coming up...

Stick to that New Year's resolution!

If you're looking to burn off some of those Christmas calories without needing to sign up to a gym membership or fad diet then we highly recommend joining our conservation work parties - who needs that nonsense when you can get out onto our beautiful nature reserves instead?! We have regular sessions on Thursdays in Abingdon and Fridays in Little Wittenham, plus monthly meetings on the first Saturday in Abingdon and second Sunday in Little Wittenham. Get in touch to find out more.

Weekly udpate, 19th December

First off, a huge thank you to all who came along on Friday and enjoyed the festive cheer at the Volunteer Christmas Party! It was wonderful to see so many of you join in the celebrations. It really has been a truly spectacular year for volunteering at Earth Trust with around 210 of you giving your time which I think is rather astonishing! I've said it before and I'll say it again, so much of what happens at Earth Trust simply could not be achieved without our volunteers so a big thank you and here's to an even bigger 2018.

All that is left for me to say is have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Enjoy Doctor Who (I know I will...!) and I'll see you in 2018! The office re-opens on Tuesday 2nd January.

Hannah
Volunteering Development Manager

What the volunteers have been up to:

Thursday Group (Abingdon), 14th December

The group were back at Abbey Fishponds last week to finish off the task of laying woodchip on the footpaths - an important job at this time of year. The next session (the last of the year) is on 21st December.

Friday Group (Little Wittenham), 15th December

Another staple of the winter work programme - the team were back coppicing in Paradise Wood for last week's session. It was the last session of the year as this Friday we're shutting up shop early for the festive period! The next Friday Group will be on 5th January.

Weekly update, 12th December

Hope you're all wrapped up warm and toasty! Thursday and Friday Groups are all systems go this week and with the temperature creeping over to a toasty 'above freezing' layers will as always be a good shout! Many hands have been making fantastic progress on the nature reserves over the last few weeks - we couldn't do it without you.

Looking forward to seeing you later in the week for some festive cheer at the volunteer Christmas party!

Have a splendid week,

Hannah

Volunteering Development Manager

What the volunteers have been up to:

Thursday Group (Abingdon), 7th December

Last week the group headed to Abbey Fishponds to continue with laying woodchip on the muddy footpaths, which was started by the Saturday team the previous week. The next session is 14th December.

Friday Group (Little Wittenham), 8th December

The group took a break from hedgelaying and were coppicing in Paradise Wood last week. The next session is 15th December.

Sunday Group (Little Wittenham), 10th December

The Sunday group were also coppicing hazel in the walnut trial plot of Paradise Wood this month, ensuring the walnut trees have room to grow. The next session is 14th January.