If you enjoy variety and being part of a team, you will love volunteering at one of our centres. There are a full range of opportunities with flexible times to suit you. At our centres you can be sure of a warm welcome, a professional approach and lots of enjoyable times. You do not need to be an expert to join us, just have enthusiasm, an interest in wildlife and a good sense of humour.

If you are aged 14 -18 you can carry out a school placement with us at one of our centres and if you are 16 or over we have many volunteering opportunities.

School groups

Each year thousands of pupils visit our centres to learn about wildlife and the environment. We need lots of volunteers as well as staff to make their visit as successful as possible.

This work is very varied. You could help 'behind the scenes' preparing for sessions by making sure areas are safe, photocopying resources or setting out equipment or trails.

You could also help to run a session by assisting one of the education team when they lead an activity. If you are keen, you could also lead part of a session once you have gained some experience.

All our centres are involved with the Eco Centre Award - a scheme that encourages centres to be run in an environmentally sound way. There are opportunities to become involved in this scheme - through helping to research issues, produce display materials and help run activities that support the scheme such as Low Waste Lunch where pupils are challenged to produce as little waste as possible from their packed lunch.

Events

This brings a team of people together of different ages and interests who all want to make the event a real success to support the work of Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Each centre runs events (mostly in the school holidays) when it needs lots of volunteers to make them work.

Help is needed with publicity (producing and distributing posters and letting the media know what is happening). We also need help preparing activities for the event such as setting out trails, making signs, preparing art and craft sessions and decorating the centre. On the day of the event we need help to welcome people, marshal the car parks, run the various activities and of course to help set up and clear away.

Administration

Our centres are busy places, especially from Easter to October which means there is lots of admin support needed. We need help to take bookings from groups, photocopy materials, send out information to members of the public, other staff and volunteers, promote our work through posters and press releases, support financial and reporting systems and to produce materials for use in our education and events programmes. All this takes time and organisation that we can be very short of during the main season. So if you have skills in any of the above areas, we would love to hear from you.

Wildlife Watch clubs

Wildlife Watch is the junior branch of Suffolk Wildlife Trust and is part of the national network of Wildlife Trusts. It encourages children to attend Watch meetings held at our centres and other locations. These meetings enable children to undertake 'hands on' wildlife activities such as surveys, nature trails, making nest boxes, beetle hunts and working with local experts. They normally last for about 2 hours on a weekend day and require two registered leaders to ensure children have a safe, enjoyable and interesting session. We are always on the lookout for potential new leaders or helpers to continue to support this active network of clubs.

More about Wildlife Watch

Could I be a Watch leader?
A typical Wildlife Watch leader or helper is someone who enjoys working with children, is enthusiastic and concerned about wildlife and the environment and enjoys being out of doors. No expert knowledge is required and you will receive local and national support and guidance.

If you register as an active leader, we will provide:

- A leader's resource pack to help you plan fun-filled, informative and safe activities
- Access to training
- Full public liability and personal accident insurance
- Link magazine four times a year to update you on current events, news and ideas for activities
- Other publications including Watchword and Wildlife Extra plus support materials for any new projects

Registration and all subsequent support and materials are free.

More more information about helping with a Watch club, please contact the Trust on 01473 890089.