Volunteer Guide

We are now recruiting for our volunteer guided walk team. This is a large team of volunteers who are incredibly passionate about the arboretum and their volunteer role within it. Any guide will tell you it is hugely rewarding, and the learning element is addictive. Many of our guides started their training knowing little or nothing about trees or the arboretum (other than being a visitor) so there is no need to have any previous knowledge, just some time and a passion for people and the outdoors.

We would therefore like to invite you to attend our guide recruitment morning on Saturday 16th November to find out more about it and the professional training programme you would undertake. The description below will equip you with an overview of what’s required and what to expect, however, the recruitment morning aims to bring that to life and answer any questions you might have. Please get in touch to find out how to attend the recruitment morning.

When

• Guided walks run throughout the year, generally from March-October, with a more limited programme throughout the winter
• Walks last about 1½ hour, however, to allow for preparation time on/ before the day, shifts take a minimum of 3 hours, and often a full day during your first season
• We ask for a minimum of 2 onsite shifts per month 

Key Responsibilities

1.   Work as part of the guided walk team and with wider Forestry England staff / volunteers to ensure the success of the walk programme

2.   Lead / assist the delivery of guided walks ensuring that visitors… 

•       feel welcome and included

•       have a safe, enjoyable experience and as a result feel more connected to Westonbirt

•       better understand and appreciate the key Forestry England messages

3.   Represent Forestry England values and support specific communication lines where appropriate

4.   Maintain their skills and knowledge

Key tasks:

Design an interesting, cohesive and personal walk that…

•      Incorporates Westonbirt key messages and encourages visitors to actively participate in an interactive experience

•      Takes advantage of seasonal highlights

•      Advertises opportunities for visitors to deepen their relationship with Westonbirt, such as through membership, donation, volunteering or repeat visits

Ensure the wellbeing and safety of your visitors during the walk by…

•      Adapting your walk to consider visitor needs, ensuring an inclusive experience for all

•      Undertaking a pre-walk recce and completing record

•      Providing visitors with a safety briefing and monitoring the group during the walk

Enable ongoing refinement / improvement of walks (and Westonbirt) through…

•      Encouraging visitor feedback via feedback form

•      Recording numbers

•      Undertaking ongoing personal development such as attending training and sharing in constructive ‘debrief’ sessions

There are also optional activities that guides can choose to become involved with. These include:

•      Developing a themed ‘discovery walk’ focused on a specific aspect of Westonbirt

•      Supporting our Sensing Nature guided walks by becoming a sighted assistant

•      Supporting the development and delivery of the guided walk programme by taking up an additional role within the Guided Walk Support Team or training sub-group. These roles support vital areas of work behind-the scenes that keep the programme running effectively

o   Supporting administration of programme

o   Supporting training and CPD sessions

Length of role and commitment:

This is a permanent volunteering role.

Training commitment

To qualify as a Westonbirt Arboretum Guide, you are required to complete the New Guides Training Programme as outlined in Appendix 1.

Guiding commitment

There is an expectation that a guide will

•      lead two guided walks/month (approx. 3 hours per day split between walk itself / preparation)

•      support two guided walks as Assistant Guide sessions/month

In addition, we encourage guides to attend formal guide meetings (currently 4/year) and at least 3 of the monthly CPD sessions and participate in the guide family.

Please note, Note: the 5 onsite sessions and the final virtual session are mandatory. 

Participants should attend the other virtual sessions ‘live’ if possible; if you are unable to do so, they will be available online, and you should view them in advance of the related onsite session. 

• Onsite Saturdays: 18th January; 8^th February; 1st March; 22nd March; 12th April  (all session from 9.30am-10.00am to 4.00pm-4.30pm)
• Online Sessions: Wed 29th Jan; Thu 13th Feb; Tue 11th Mar; Wed 2nd Apr (all session online from 6.00pm-8.00pm)
• 
  

Mentoring phase

At the end of formal training, trainees are assigned mentors, who support them to gain experience, grow confidence and prepare for final assessment. You will be encouraged to participate in onsite guided walks and record them in your reflective Walk Log. The time taken to progress to final assessment will depend upon the individual. You are encouraged to pursue qualification a soon as possible and within 12 months of completion of formal training element.

A programme of further sessions is provided by the Mentor team. Whilst not mandatory, these provide an opportunity to share learning experiences and raise issues where you consider further development sessions/opportunities for practice would be beneficial. These will be held monthly, the first is scheduled for Saturday 10^th May.

Sign-off

When the trainee is deemed ready, they take their qualification assessment. This includes a review of their training record and an assessment of their first public guided walk with visitors, as lead guide. 

What to do now?

Please visit our website or get in touch to sign up to attend the recruitment morning on 16^th November to find out more and how to apply.