Volunteer Woodland Steward

Contribute to your local community by supporting us to manage our woodland, and helping us run our Volunteer Land Stewardship days.

We are looking for an enthusiastic, volunteer, who enjoys physical work, to help us run our Land Stewardship days, support volunteers, help develop our site and care for our tools and equipment.

Time commitment:

Our Land Stewardship days run (usually) on the last Saturday of each month, from 10:30am until around 3:00pm. Plus additional flexible time as needed.

Collaborative working is important to us, so we would like you to be in communication with the team and meet fairly regularly, particularly when initially in the role.

The Role:

• Ensuring our woodland is safe & well-maintained for public events
• Management and maintenance of the project’s woodland and site resources.
• Follow and develop sustainable land use plans, ensuring alignment with the project’s aims, our site licence and any management plans already in place.
• Asses urgency of landwork and skill needed. Enabling us to plan volunteer our days and bring in contractors where needed.
• Coordinate with stakeholders (e.g. our members, volunteers, landowners, ecologists & contractors) to implement maintenance and ensure our site is safe to open to the public and fulfill the needs of the projects using the site.
• Organise, or contribute to the organisation of regular public volunteering opportunities and Employer Supported Volunteering with other organisations, to support land maintenance.
• Manage budget for land-related projects and improvements with support from the team.
• Maintain an inventory of tools and equipment.
• Organise maintenance of equipment.
• Work with project teams to ensure all equipment is well cared for, organised and inventory taken of any items which need to be fixed or replaced.

Essential:

• Experience of working outdoors
• Understanding of sustainable land management
• Understanding of conservation
• Good knowledge of plants and trees
• Commitment to HARE's aims
• Enthusiasm for making a difference

Desired Skills & Experience:

• Experience with woodland or site management
• Understanding of Agroforestry
• Coppicing & other forestry work
• Chainsaw certificate
• Woodwork & tool use

Support will be provided, where necessary, alongside an induction. If there is anything you’re not sure of, please email us and we will help you with the process.

This role comes with the following benefits:

• Spend time in our beautiful ancient woodland, with fresh air and birdsong - great for mental and emotional well-being.
• Build strength through real physical work.
• Use your skills and expertise to support a not-for-profit to make a difference in your local community.
• Help to improve mental health and well-being in the community, by ensuring our site is ready to open for events and workshops.
• Contribute to creating custodians of nature and the environment - preserving nature for future generations.
• Contribute to conservation of our woodland site and endangered species who live there.
• Be part of a small, fun and supportive team - We aim to create a caring and collaborative work environment where everyone feels safe, fully supported and not judged.
• Make a difference in your local community by supporting a not-for-profit.
• Help to preserve and manage a local nature reserve, improving it for wildlife, plants and humans, contributing to the mental health and well-being in the community.
• Opportunities to support events, workshops.
• We meet regularly as a team for ‘Food & Fire’ evenings. An opportunity to relax around the fire, in our beautiful woodland and socialise with colleagues. We ‘bring and share’ food, support each other and have fun.

If you have experience in forestry or land work and would like to use your skills to give something back to the community, we would love to hear from you. Your support will help us grow and develop, and enable us to reach more people. We are a small team so just a few hours a week or per month, will have a big impact.

If you would like to talk with us before deciding whether to apply, please give us a call. You can find our phone number on our website. Please note we work part time, so may not always be able to answer.