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Volunteering ‘Holiday’

Hi everyone,

Last year Carl and I went on a conservation ‘holiday’ in Scotland, with a charity called Trees for Life. We were there to do our small part in restoring the Caledonian Forest. The holiday was for one week and for that week we were cut off from civilisation staying in Athnamulloch bothy in Glen Affric with 10 other like-minded people.

A bothy, for those who don’t know, is an abandoned croft house. A croft is a small farm and the people who live and work on them are known as crofters. They live in the croft house, which is a small building with 2 or 3 small rooms downstairs and 2 upstairs, and they work the land around them. I don’t know if crofters still do this, but originally some of the rooms were shared with their animals. Anyway, I digress.

On the day of arrival Alan Watson Featherstone, the founder of the charity, who we were fortunate enough to have along on our work week, gave us a tour of part of the forest. He explained why he had set up the charity and showed us what he was trying to achieve, with our help and the help of the many thousands of volunteers who had come before us. He had been hiking in the area many years before and he had been saddened by the terrible state that the forest was in. Many of the ancient scots pines had been felled to make way for other species that would provide better timber for building, such as lodgepole pine and spruce. On top of that overgrazing by introduced species such as deer and sheep had prevented regeneration of native trees. He decided there and then that he must do something to help the forest. I’m sure many of us feel like that about something we have seen and say we will do something to help, but most of us forget once we are back home, not Alan. He didn’t forget and he did do something. He set up the Trees for Life Charity and he hasn’t looked back. When he was talking about this, his passion for the forest was tangible and it rubbed off on us. By the time we had finished our tour, we were definitely ready to do our bit.

We were then taken to the bothy in a minibus along a very long, very bumpy, track. It seemed as if we were never going to get there. Then as we reached the brow of the last hill before going down into the centre of the Glen, there was the bothy, looking like a tiny white dot flanked by two silver ribbons, the stream on one side and the river on the other.

As we approached the bothy it became apparent that it really was tiny, but also beautiful and welcoming with its whitewashed walls and red roof. We all went inside, and Dan our leader for the week, showed us around and asked us to pick where we wanted to sleep. Most of the volunteers chose to sleep in one of the two upstairs rooms on foam mattresses spread out over the floor, but we and one of the others had taken tents to sleep in. Once we had pitched our tents and made up our beds we set about getting on with the other chores. The bothy had no mains water, electricity or gas, so jobs such as fetching water from the river, chopping wood, lighting the fire, cooking the evening meal on the fire and the tiny bottled gas stove, and cleaning out the one toilet (which, by the way was about 100 metres away in an old barn) were shared amongst us. After this memorable introduction to our temporary home we all sat down in the main living room and ate our evening meal around a roaring fire. Then for the rest of the evening we played games, talked and made music, all by candle and gas light. Then we all went off to our beds to be well rested for the days work ahead.

The next day, we all woke early, had breakfast, made our own lunches and headed off for our first days work in the Glen. To get to the work site we walked over 3 miles of peat bog. It sounds hard, and indeed it was hard, but it was also wonderful. The scenery was breathtaking and we were surrounded by it. We spent the whole day on a hillside in the Glen, planting Downy Birch, then we headed back to the bothy, where we ate and talked around the fire. While we were out working it had rained and our tent had sprung a leak, so for the rest of the week Carl and I slept in the living room next to the fire. Bliss.

The next day Carl and I were first up so we lit the fires and put water on to boil. One big kettle on the fire and one on the little stove in the kitchen, then we got dressed, had breakfast and made our lunch before the big rush. This became our routine for the rest of the week. It was definitely an advantage sleeping downstairs, it was so peaceful at that time in the morning. What a truly fantastic place to be.

This second day was spent much like the first, then on the third day we had a change of scenery. We went to a different part of the Glen, where the vegetation was already quite dense. Here we planted Aspen and built fencing around them to protect them from deer. The aspen is being grown as part of a plan to reintroduce Beaver to the area. This day was really awful weather-wise. It rained relentlessly all day, and by the time we got back to the bothy we were all soaked and chilled to the bone. It wasn’t long though, before we had the fires lit, our clothes drying in the back room around the woodburner and a hot meal in our bellies. Then we spent another pleasant evening telling stories, playing music and chatting before going off to bed feeling pleasantly tired.

The next day was our ‘day off’ but it rained most of the day so everyone stayed around the bothy. We read, chatted, baked flapjacks, went for short walks between the rain showers and generally just relaxed. Lovely.

After our day off, we spent one more planting Birch trees in the Glen. This included planting trees that were bought, as gifts by various people for loved ones, so as we planted them we read out their greetings and wishes. Then we spent one day in the nursery at Plodda Lodge, where the trees are grown from seed. Here we tended the nursery beds and helped to transplant seedlings. Then, once again we headed home to the bothy.

We planted over 2000 trees that week and it was extremely satisfying.

By the end of the week I wasn’t sure whether I even wanted to leave. The bothy felt like home very quickly, and the people I was sharing it with quickly became my friends. Each evening we took it in turns to do the various chores. Then we would eat and chat and play music or games. Lets face it, there were 12 of us living in that tiny building and we all relied on each other. We came from various backgrounds and ages ranged between 18 and 70 and we were a great team. We started the week as strangers and we ended it as friends. I will always carry fond memories of that week with me and I know I will go back one day.

Bothy

Home sweet home. Athnamulloch Bothy, Glen Affric

See you next time

Carolyn

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Add comment June 25th, 2006

Conservation Volunteering Introduction

Before I start a diary on this (my first diary ever) I want to write an introduction and tell you about some of the skills I have learned on the way.

I joined my local group of conservation volunteers about 4 years ago, and it is one of the best things I have ever done. For a long time I worked in a job that I hated simply because it was what I knew and it was well paid. I used to dread getting up in the morning on a work day. Then, with the support of my partner, I left that job to find a better way of life. This included starting a degree and, of course, joining South Somerset Conservation Volunteers. Now, every day is a joy, and on the days that I am going out to volunteer, I definately have a spring in my step.

Me Planting a Hedge

Here is a picture of me helping to plant a hedge on a cold, wet day, standing in mud and still smiling:-)

The group, as a whole, are a great bunch of people. There is a core membership of about 5 people, and there are others that may only come out for one day, or stay for a few months, then leave to go on to other things. Ages range from teenagers to OAPs, and we all get on really well. We have members from all walks of life. Some are students, studying for various qualifications in subjects such as countryside management or wildlife conservation. Some are people with learning difficulties or other problems, where learning team work and other socials skills is important for their progress. Some are retired teachers, business people and ex forces personnel etc. The one thing we all have in common is that we all have a love and/or interest in wildlife and nature and we all choose to volunteer in this way.

The group is affiliated with BTCV, which is a well known national conservation charity. They provide transport, tools, first aid cover, insurance and training. As well as tea, coffee and biscuits, and a project leader.

A few months after joining I became a Volunteer Officer with BTCV. My job title was Natural Breaks Officer. This entailed running a programme of Natural Break Conservation Holidays in my area as well as assisting in the running of the South Somerset Midweek Group and the Somerset office. The position was only temporary because the system is designed to give people who want to follow a career in this type of work the opportunity to gain practical experience. However, during my time as a VO I had access to free certified training in many skills, in return for my commitment.

This training included species identification courses, leadership courses, and health and safety/risk assessment courses as well as practical skills such as first aid, mini bus driving, dry stone walling, woodland management skills including, planting, coppicing and felling (I now have an NPTC certificate in various chain saw operations, something that I would not have been able to afford without BTCV).

Other skills I have acquired, during my NVQ training (also paid for by BTCV funding, but not finished yet) include hedgelaying and step, fence, stile and bridge building, as well as general experience in pond maintenance, scrub clearance, invasive species control and how to cook a perfect baked potato on a bonfire!

I am no longer a VO but I still go out with the group once a week. We work on various projects, some of which are one offs and some are ongoing and form part of the long term management plans for the sites that we visit regularly.

I also go out on some weekends and have worked on conservation projects in other parts of the UK, and I am a registered leader with BTCV for their conservation holidays.

I know that not everyone can just give up their job or other responsibilities to go out and volunteer every week, but there is always something you can do if you are really interested. If you want to join in, then contacting your local wildlife trust or BTCV office or even your local council will give you a good starting point. They will be able to tell you about events and volunteering opportunities in your local area, where you can take part as little or as often as you like.

See you next time.

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Add comment June 19th, 2006