Become a Volunteer

Volunteers are vital to the reserve. By becoming a Foxglove Volunteer you have the opportunity to meet friendly, like-minded people, enjoy time in great surroundings, and make a real difference to your local environment.

Happy volunteers working on the reserve Without the efforts of the volunteers it would be impossible to keep the reserve in its current state of health. Not all volunteers need to be getting their hands dirty (although this might be considered the fun part!). As you can see from the roles below there are lots of ways you can be involved.

Volunteering opportunities include:

Hands-on habitat management

Volunteers do just about anything here, from cutting vegetation back and maintaining pathways to clearing out ponds and planting trees. We need help all year round and our main practical work day is a Tuesday, although we do have people who come on other days of the week. Each winter there is a programme of maintenance and although some tasks need a whole lot of people, sometimes there are smaller things which only require one or two and can be completed in an afternoon. We work in all weathers, from summer sun to winter rain, and although the work can be hard it is highly rewarding. Where necessary, training is provided.

Meeting and greeting at the Field Centre

Weekends can be very busy, as can the school holidays. We need someone who is happy to stay around the Field Centre, talking to visitors about the reserve and showing them where to go on their walks, making sure that they enjoy their visit.

Leading, or helping with, guided walks around the reserve

We run a program of guided walks which can be during the day or on evenings. If you like showing people around and telling them about flowers and birds etc. this is the role for you. Most walks last between one and a half to two hours.

Helping with school visits

We are visited by a number of Primary Schools and would not turn away an extra pair of hands on school visit days! If you like helping children to explore their natural world and would like to help out please get in touch.

Bird ringing

The bird-ringing mainly takes place on a Sunday. The ringing group are all volunteers and there are various ways you can be involved.

Fund-raising, social and event planning

We run various events throughout the year and there are always raffles to organise and coffee mornings to help out at. We are always looking for good ideas to help us raise funds.

Photography and species recording

Elephant Hawkmoth We monitor the birds, bats, butterflies, moths – in fact we try to record all species in some way. All these things take time and we look to volunteers to become involved.

If you have any skill or interest which you feel could be put to good use at Foxglove Covert, then we’d really like to hear from you.

Whatever your skills are and no matter how much or how little time you can commit to, we would be more than happy to talk to you. You can rest assured that you would be welcomed into the Foxglove team.

Please contact us on 01748 831113 or 07754 270980 if you would like to find out more.