Pushing down the barriers
5 January 2012
Do you find yourself wondering what to do on Saturdays? Do you like being outside, exploring wild places and helping out wildlife?
If so, then why not get involved with youth volunteering with the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust?
Every other Saturday from 14th January, a team of enthusiastic young people from the Southampton area, will be venturing out onto nature reserves and country parks in the area, to get involved in practical conservation work, such as cutting down trees, clearing overgrown vegetation and mending fences and boardwalks.
The range of work that you could be involved with is varied and sometimes challenging, but you would be fully tutored and supported by Craig Daters, the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s Youth Volunteering Officer.
What is more, the Wildlife Trust will also supply transport, tools, work boots, work gloves, waterproofs and hot drinks. So all you would need to do is to be ready in your old clothes with some lunch and bags of enthusiasm and Craig will do the rest.
The conservation sessions run from around 10am until 2pm and the first week’s activity will be cutting tall birch trees down and then burning them on a fire, at the Wildlife Trust’s Emer Bog Nature Reserve in North Baddesley.
If you are interested by this opportunity and want to know more, then you can get more information and see some videos of some youth volunteers in action, by visiting www.pushthebarriers.org.uk . Alternatively, you can contact Craig on 01489 774 452 or 07917 616 694 or craigd@hwt.org.uk.
These sessions are just part of the work that the Wildlife Trust does through its innovative and exciting PUSHing Down the Barriers youth engagement project, which is designed to provide young people aged 13 – 25 from across South Hampshire with opportunities to learn about, contribute to the management of, and be inspired by their local countryside and open spaces.
The project works primarily with young people that are not in education, employment or training, engage in anti-social behaviour, or are from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Youth Volunteering Officer works with a wide range of schools, youth clubs, youth offending teams, social services and community groups across the county and has seen over 420 young people get involved in the scheme since its start in November 2010.
Go on, try something different this January, help wildlife, make new friends and discover your natural potential. Contact Craig to book your place NOW.
