We strive to integrate your aims, interests and expertise with our own needs in a worthwhile partnership.
"My placement has provided me with the skills necessary to undertake practical tasks, as well as enhancing my organisational and leadership skills transferable to my career. It has given me the confidence and desire to undertake a full time career in this field." Full-time volunteer
As a full-time volunteer you can get involved in many different ways at Trust properties throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
A wealth of experiences can be discovered. Gain an insight into individuals' experiences.
Wardening Assistants
Career change
Full-time Volunteer Warden, Branscombe
Nicola Bullock
Finding myself in a position to take voluntary redundancy, I decided it was time to try something new. I had previously worked for, and volunteered with, the National Trust – on Working Holidays and bashing rhododendrons. Pursuing my personal interests in the environment, I decided to experience life as a volunteer warden for three months at Branscombe, in a spectacular part of the East Devon coast.
It’s wonderful to stroll to work in minutes! On arrival, the whole team has a brief meeting with the Property Manager before loading up our equipment. Driving the Land Rovers to site certainly beats my commuter car and the motorway! Large gangs of us tackle the bigger jobs that improve access and cut back vegetation, whilst smaller groups can work on projects such as putting up animal fencing, re-hanging gates and conducting wildlife surveys to keep records of insect and animal species. Every day is different, I’m learning so many new and unexpected skills, and I can even say I can water divine!
I live with Lucy, another full-time volunteer, in a cottage especially reserved for full time volunteers. It’s in the centre of Branscombe and not far from the beach. The cottage is clean and comfortable, has stunning views, plus you can pick your own strawberries in the garden. I am surrounding by people I am constantly learning from. As a result of this, I have started an NVQ II in Environmental Conservation and I am sure the experiences I have gained during my volunteering will be invaluable to my future study.
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Professional skills development
Warden, Killerton Estate
Claire Jordan
I am a member of the permanent staff at the National Trust. Volunteering opened doors and opportunities for me to secure a career in the profession I preferred.
I help to manage and maintain the 2,600 hectare Killerton Estate in mid Devon. The majority of the work is practical estate work such as fencing, footpath cutting, footpath furniture erection, hedge laying, plantation thinning, charcoal making, log production. I also assist with making Killerton cider in the autumn and help with open air concerts in the summer.
I went to Seale Hayne Agricultural College, studying for a BSc Hons in Rural Resource Management. As part of the course I had to complete a year in industry, and was fortunate to work for two National Parks as a Seasonal Ranger. This is where my interest grew in doing hands-on practical work rather than being stuck in an office. Once I completed my degree I started looking for Assistant Warden or Seasonal work but, finding that employers wanted a minimum of 2 years experience, I decided to do some voluntary work.
The National Trust offers a variety of volunteering opportunities for a wide range of jobs, and I heard that they took on long-term volunteers: people who were willing to work 4-5 days a week and in return receive training and sometimes accommodation. I volunteered for just over a year with the Trust at Lanhydrock in Cornwall and found it invaluable experience. They gave me a variety of in-house courses as well as the certificated courses I would need to gain full-time employment such as chainsaw, brushcutter and first aid training.
The best thing to come from my volunteering experience was working alongside skilled wardens who taught me all they knew and gave me their time to make me the warden that I am today. After seeing the four seasons through and understanding the complete role of a warden throughout the year and their responsibilities, I felt more confident in applying for jobs. I got my first seasonal post with the Trust in Somerset and my first full-time post with the Trust 5 months later in North Devon. I stayed on the coastal wooded property for just over 4 years which was fantastic, and then moved to Killerton last April to broaden my knowledge of a different property with different habitats and pressures.
My typical day changes throughout the seasons. I start at 8am and finish at 4.30pm - although you do need to be flexible about finish times! In the spring I could be using the post basher and fencing on a tenant farm. In summer I will probably be strimming, pedestrian or quad mowing, or tractor mowing all day. In the autumn I could be collecting tons of apples by hand ready to press to make cider, and in the winter would probably be line thinning in a conifer plantation, winching and extracting to create a load of timber to be made into fencing materials.
The best thing about my job is that the work is varied. Even if you are fencing for weeks, you will always be at a different location with different views, different wild flowers, and different scenarios. It's great being outdoors in fabulous locations and knowing that I am helping to look after the countryside using as many traditional methods as possible.
Top tips: I would have to say that being committed and being flexible are very important. Getting a job in a countryside-related field takes a lot of dedication, time and hard work, and jobs do not come regularly so being willing to up sticks to a new part of the country would be a great help. Volunteering is certainly a great way to get into this field and the Trust does offer a fantastic package in gaining invaluable practical experience.
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Forestry Assistant
Professional development
Full-time Volunteer Forestry Assistant
Bernadette Darcy
Bernadette Darcy studied environmental science in Dublin, but lacked the work experience needed to land a job. As a full time Trust volunteer, spending a year with the forestry team at the Cliveden estate in Bucks, she’s getting that experience with both on the job training and formal training. "I’ve been amazed at how much variety there is in the job. I’m on a first aid training course next week and the chainsaw course not long after that. And everyone has been so nice and helpful. There are no volunteering opportunities of this depth available in Ireland, so I’m really glad to have got this post."
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Community Officers
Personal development
Full-time volunteer, Active Community Team, Stonehenge
Rebecca Etchells
"I feel very privileged to be part of the Active Community Team. It’s going to be challenging but exciting. I recently completed a combined degree in Spanish and tourism and am helping to set up the new office. I hope the experience will help ensure that my CV is distinctive and shape my ambitions for the future. I have no idea what I want to do with my life yet, but I know that I don’t want to work in the chocolate factory that I used to be in. I wish I could be here for longer than a month."
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Personal development
Full-time volunteer, Active Community Team, Stonehenge
Jane Parkinson
"When I first came here 13 years ago, I thought that Stonehenge was just the stone circle - that’s what everyone comes to see. I didn’t realise there was a much bigger story to be told. Now, as part of the Active Community Team, I’m responsible for interpretation and access, and am looking forward to helping others have a more in-depth experience. I’ll be looking at the target audiences and then working with volunteers to put together stories that will help people interact with the landscape as a whole, away from the stone circle. I’m also going to be delivering an oral history project here, speaking to local people who have life experiences of how this landscape has been used in the recent past."
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Conservation Assistant
Personal, professional development
Full-time Volunteer Conservation Assistant, Lundy Island
Emma Dilkes
Emma took on this full-time volunteering role in 2004, after completing a degree in zoology at Bristol. Her first challenge was a posting to Lundy to help eradicate the rats there and this has led, in turn, to a turtle and coral conservation job in Thailand.
Under the supervision of rat control experts from New Zealand, Emma was helping the Lundy Seabird Recovery Project. The island’s populations of Manx shearwaters and puffins has plummeted, because introduced black and brown rats have been steadily consuming the eggs and chicks of these wonderful birds over the last 60 years. Because the rats are common elsewhere, and shearwaters are not, the National Trust, which owns the island, has teamed up with the Landmark Trust which manages Lundy, and English Nature and the RSBP, to control the rats.
"The work involved walking a grid of 50 bait stations to ensure the rats had steady access to the rodent-specific poison," says Emma. "There were believed to be at least 10,000 rats on the island, so I was also checking monitoring stations, where lollipop sticks were dipped in chip pan oil and coated with soap or candle wax. These tempted the rats to sharpen their teeth and give their presence away."
Emma says this is a great induction to real conservation work and on returning to Stackpole she revelled in getting her hands dirty and working physically very hard.
She then secured a seasonal wardening post, helping to run car parks, collect fees, and keeping accounts and member recruitment details up to date. She also undertook practical jobs, including catching swans: "We’ve had to rescue three or four caught in fishing line. They’re seriously big birds."
Emma’s confidence and experience with the Trust then won her a three month contact monitoring turtle breeding and coral reefs in Thailand. Emma returns to Stackpole this April to continue to increase her experience through volunteering with the aim of getting a full time job in conservation. "It is very broad work at Stackpole and it couldn’t have been a better first job. It’s given me an insight into the different opportunities that exist," says Emma.
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