What is Youth Volunteering?

• For 16 – 25 year olds from Southampton and the surrounding area.
• Helping young people to experience life outside the classroom and outside the urban environment.
• As well as individuals, we also work with youth organisations such as Fairbridge Solent, Wessex Youth Offending Team and Taunton College.
• Your volunteering can count towards Millennium Volunteer, Duke of Edinburgh and other awards - and in the new year the John Muir Award will be offered to interested volunteers (please contact Jamie - see below - if you would like to find out more).
• Youth volunteers have done over 6,000 hours of volunteering since the start of 2005!

What might I be doing?

• Restoration of woodlands, wetlands and grasslands in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight.
• Construction of ponds, fences.
• Destruction of fences, invasive plants.
• Chopping down of trees and lots of burning!
• Wildlife surveys.

How can I get involved?
Contact Jamie Corry on 023 8087 0139, 07917 616694 (mobile) or at jamieC@hwt.org.uk for more information and to find out what activities are coming up soon.

Go Wild at Winnall

November 2007

On the 3rd of November volunteers, Wildlife trust Staff and Councillor George Beckett met at Winnall Moors and spent the day cutting and burning thirsty trees to launch The Viva Veolia Go Wild at Winnall Project.

The project aims to get young people involved in their local environment through actively protecting it, thus learning new skills and having new experiences. This project extends the geographical area of Youth Volunteering for the Trust and is a great opportunity for the volunteers to work on this amazing former floating water meadow.

At the southern end of Winnall Moors, the area of public access, work is needed to protect the site for the encroachment of Willow and Alder. These trees, along with nettles suck up moisture from the ground and prevent other important plants and animals to thrive. Along with the removal of these invasive species new fences are needed in order to allow increased grazing to the site and boardwalks are needed to increase public access.

These activities will be happening once a week over the next two years thus allowing local young people to gather a greater understanding and appreciation for the site and the need for its conservation.

Viva Veolia is a brand new initiative funded by The Veolia Environmental Trust (VET) through the Landfill Communities Fund, and v, the youth volunteering charity, which will see £500,000 being spent at eight local project sites across England over the next two years with Winnall being one of these sites.