Volunteers at work

Monday
It's 7.45am and it's raining when the Trust van pulls up outside 32 Jacobs Wells Road, our Bristol headquarters. Alex (School Grounds Officer) is picking up tools and materials for a school in Southmead where she'll be willow planting and pond digging with a class of year 5 children this week. Pat S (Finance Officer) unlocks the office, gathering up the post and inspecting the stairwell for leaks. Our HQ was once a police station, founded in 1836, and full of character - but beginning to creak at the seams and let in the water. Alex is leaving the cell block where the workshops are sited just as Andy (New Deal Team Supervisor) arrives to open up the team mess-room, handily converted from two cells knocked into one. He's preparing his tools for the task ahead today - hedge laying at Browns Folly with the New Deal Team of long-term unemployed people, part of the Government's New Deal scheme who have been placed at the Trust to gain work experience.

In comes Elaine (North Somerset Levels and Moors Officer), who has a busy schedule today. She's carrying out otter survey training with the North Somerset Otter Group this afternoon. Mary (Conservation Officer) is on the internet checking all the Unitary Authority Planning lists to see if any proposed development may be a threat to wildlife. Just recently she's been very busy running the campaign to save Hengrove Park (see Latest Developments on page 3)

Stuart (Volunteer Co-ordinator) meets with the conservation placement volunteers to plan the week's work. Dormice, butterfly and grassland surveys are discussed. The placement volunteers, carrying out a lot of the practical management work and also help to run the Wildlife Action Group volunteers (WAG) who go out on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Tuesday
Steve (Chief Executive) and Pat E (Head of Resources) have just set out for a meeting of the South West Wildlife Trusts, a charitable company which was set up last year to co-ordinate the efforts of the seven regional Trusts. Today's agenda includes a discussion on appointing a joint development director for the region.

Tim (Head of Reserves) and Sam (Development Officer) are discussing an application for landfill tax funds to buy Prior's Wood, part of the Tyntesfield estate woodlands we were unsuccessful in purchasing last year when the Heritage Lottery Fund ceased to support bid for land acquisition. If we do manage to buy it it will be our thirty-eighth nature reserve!

Jenny (Biodiversity Development Officer) will be organising a meeting of the Avon Biodiversity Action Plan Group this afternoon. The plan will provide a ten year strategic framework for management and enhancement of biodiversity in Avon. Jenny's the co-ordinator for this group and is writing the actual document, which will be launched in July and featured in the next issue of Wildlife.

Helen A (Environmental Interpretation Officer) and Bruce (Education volunteer) are preparing for a Valentine-themed event that will be held at Folly Farm this weekend to celebrate the launch of the farm as a Local Nature Reserve. The only problem is, what will we do if it's still raining on Sunday..?

Wednesday
Wednesday is WAG day. Anyone can turn up and be taken to one of the reserves to tackle tasks such as scrub clearance, hedgelaying or coppicing. Today they're off to Weston Moor to construct deer fencing under the guidance of Craig (Reserves Project Officer) and John Harrison (volunteer warden). The courtyard is full of keen volunteers by 9.45am, and there's only just enough room in the mini-bus.

Over at Folly Farm John (Head of Education) is donning his guise as Iolo the Celt for a living history day which gives children a hands-on experience of sustainable crafts in an historic landscape. Meanwhile, Ruth (Community Education Officer) and Alison (Willsbridge Schools Officer) at Willsbridge Mill are also preparing for an exciting day of pond dipping, woodland studies and stream surveys with a group of sixty schoolchildren.
Pat E is preparing for the evening meeting with our local groups. We've got eleven active and energetic local groups, who between them hold over 120 events a year and manage almost 100 practical workdays on nature reserves, as well as being the grass roots representation of the Trust in their local area. You can find details of your local contact in the events programme in this magazine!

Thursday
Stuart sets off for Folly Farm to meet up with the Folly volunteers, one of our reserve based groups that carry out a lot of management work such as path-laying and scrub clearance. He's joined later by Helen A and a class of pupils from Bishop Sutton school who will be putting up bat boxes around Folly Farm.

Thursday is a day when many office-based volunteers come in. David E is dealing with personnel and insurance, Sue is helping Angela with membership and David Q updates our website. Our office volunteers contribute the work of at least one extra staff member - saving us precious funds to spend on core nature reserve work.

Helen H (Head of Biodiversity) has a busy day ahead of her as she finalises the budget for her section for the new financial year. She's just secured funding for ongoing projects and there are also new projects planned, such as Pondwatch and the extension of Birdwatch into North Somerset.

Friday
Tim is off to a meeting with English Nature, to discuss ongoing work on the nature reserves. Before he leaves, there is a quick meeting with Craig to talk about two projects - deer fencing at Taggarts Wood and access improvements at Weston Big Wood.

Friday afternoon and Ken (Folly Farm Project Manager) is compiling further information for the B&NES planning committee to support our application to restore the buildings at Folly Farm, and create a regionally important environmental learning and training centre.

Sam and Morag (publicity volunteer) are planning press releases for the following week and Phillipa (admin assistant) are working to a tight deadline producing papers for a Trustee meeting on the following Wednesday. These are the meetings that provide a strategic overview and keep a finger on the pulse of the energetic and creative creature called Avon Wildlife Trust.

Despite another day of steady rain spirits are high as the Valentine Event materials are packed up for Sunday, and the printers have arrived on time with the brand new copy of Wildlife. Magazine packing day tomorrow!

Saturday
Pat E and Pat S are on duty by 8.30am to prepare a production line of letters, magazines, tea and biscuits for over twenty volunteers who turn up three times a year to pack our magazine. This is then hand-delivered to you, our members. On a conservative estimate this saves the Trust over £12,000 a year in postage.

Sunday
Event day! And thankfully the rain has gone and it's a sunny February day at Folly Farm. Helen A and Bruce have been there since 8.00am setting up the self-guided woodland walks (avoiding the muddy patches) and preparing the fire over which pancakes and tea will be made. They're hanging hearts in the trees with facts about wildlife and the origins of Valentine's Day. The day goes superbly, with almost 120 visitors consuming 250 pancakes and writing just over 50 poems.

The WAG group have also had a successful day today at Goblin Combe and once the equipment has been unloaded and locked away, the volunteers go off for a well-earned Sunday supper. Lights out in 32 Jacobs Wells Road and only the resident ghost is on duty..