Volunteering at the Wetlands

Volunteering Newsletter Welcome to London Wildlife Trust's latest update on volunteering opportunities at Walthamstow Wetlands. Walthamstow Wetlands is open daily from 9.30am-4.00pm, 363 days of the year (closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day). Thank you to everyone who has volunteered with us and helped out, we couldn't have done it without you.  Date for your diary: Winter Social on Wednesday 13 December 5-7pm.  We'd like to welcome volunteers who've taken part in our activities in 2017 to join us for mulled wine, mince pies and a quiz! We'll be based in the Turbine Room.  To help us manage numbers please RSVP here  Whether you're a nature novice or an ecology expert; everyone's welcome to get involved!  To volunteer with the Trust you need to complete a registration form. All of our volunteers must be aged over 16 years. Under-18s must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Expenses can be provided for travel within Zones 1-6 and for a lunch of £5 or under. Any equipment needed for practical conservation is provided by us, please wear suitable clothing for outdoor tasks and sturdy footwear. Please inform your volunteer manager of any relevant medical conditions when completing your registration form. Visitor engagement We are looking for enthusiastic and welcoming Visitor Engagement Volunteers to support our team. Are you interested in telling our visitors about the  area's history, industrial and cultural heritage, and wildlife?  Are you knowledgeable about wildlife and keen to communicate to new visitors what they might see on the nature reserve via wildlife walks or guide in a hide?  You could be based in the Engine House or out on the reserve. If you haven’t volunteered with London Wildlife Trust before you will need to complete one of our induction days. Dates for your diaries: We are running two visitor engagement inductions on Thursday 11 and Sunday 14 January 2018. Further details and links to book a place will follow in future newsletters.  Have you already attended an induction day and volunteered at Walthamstow Wetlands? You don’t need to attend an induction, contact London Wildlife Trust's Visitor Engagement Ranger, Shirelle Hawkins shirellehawkins@wildlondon.org.uk to arrange a meeting. Please note Shirelle's regular working days are Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Practical conservation workdays Join our practical conservation team and take part in habitat restoration, meadow management, tree care, building an outdoor classroom and more. You’ll play a key part in supporting London Wildlife Trust’s work to improve the habitats for a range of wildlife. Practical workdays are Wednesday, Friday and alternate Saturday's to Christmas 2017 (no session on Saturday 23 Dec).  All current available dates are listed below.  Activities: This December we're working on a wildlife habitat path, cutting back scrub and vegetation from a small path not open to the public. We're creating small scallops, areas of low cut vegetation, to vary the overall vegetation profile. Activities are subject to change depending on weather and materials available. What to wear and where to meet: We advise you wear sturdy boots and clothing suitable for the weather and working outdoors. Please bring a packed lunch and water. Tea/coffee and biscuits are provided.  Bike racks are located at Engine House and Coppermill Tower. Meeting point will be LWT toolstore located between Reservoir 5 and the back of Coppermill Tower. Practical workdays run 10.00am -3.00pm. Please book your place on Eventbrite via the links below. If you are unable to make a session, please cancel through Eventbrite.  Saturday 9 December                                                                      Wednesday 13 December                                                                                  Friday 15 December Wednesday 20 December  Friday 22 December  if you've any questions contact London Wildlife Trust's Conservation Volunteering Officer Nadia Ward nward@wildlondon.org.uk Ecology surveys Last week 17 volunteers joined London Wildlife Trust for Basic Bird ID training viewing some of the Reservoirs usual (and some unusual) avian visitors. Attendees were treated to views of migrating lapwing, common gull & great crested grebe (in their summer plumage!). Friday 15th December Bird Box installation 11:00 - 14:00 Book your place via the doodle poll here.  This week we need a few helping hands to reinstall nest boxes across the nature reserve. The refurbished nest boxes at Walthamstow Wetlands will provide habitat for nesting birds and show us popular roosting areas for passerines. With their new design they will also allow for continued monitoring of individual nests over time. Safety equipment will be provided. Due to the nature of this task the number of places will be limited. Friday 22nd December Hair tube survey 10:00 - 14:00 Book your place via the doodle poll here. We will be setting transects of hair tubes across the site to continue our study of small mammal distribution across the Christmas period. The hair tubes are completely non-invasive and are used for monitoring of small mammal species presence/absence without needing to capture individuals. Whilst this won't tell us anything about the age structure or genders ratio of Walthamstow Wetlands populations, this should still produce useful information about distribution. For the extra keen, there may also be a trip to the Natural History Museum doing microscopy of the final samples. Future ecology projects for January 2018: Mink raft construction - TBA Jan. 2018 Winter wetland bird blitz - TBA Jan. 2018 Swan & goose ring check - TBA Jan. 2018 Moth trapping - TBA Jan. 2018 For more details contact London Wildlife Trust's Ecology Ranger, Nathaniel Legall nlegall@wildondon.org.uk Education and family activities We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to support sessions and engage children in wildlife and the outdoors. To support these sessions you need to be a registered volunteer and complete a volunteer induction, though no teaching experience is required! Our dedicated Outdoor Learning Officer runs a range of activities, including regular Under five classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, family activity days two Sundays a month and holiday activities. From Spring 2018 we will be launching our primary schools outdoor education programmes. Dates for your diaries: We are running two education/ family activity inductions on Monday 9 and Sunday 14 January 2018. Further details and links to book a place will follow in future newsletters.  Next week we will have sessions on: Monday 10th December: under 5s activity day Wednesday 13th December: under 5s activity day Sunday 17th December: family activity day about birds Sign up to volunteer for your preferred dates here: To find out more about education volunteering contact London Wildlife Trust's Outdoor Learning Officer Myfanwy Lloyd at mlloyd@wildlondon.org.uk   Events at Walthamstow Wetlands Walthamstow Wetlands also sends out a regular email newsletter advertising upcoming events and other activities. To sign up visit www.walthamstowwetlands.com and use the subscribe button at the bottom of the page. Walthamstow Wetlands is a partnership between Thames Water, London Borough of Waltham Forest and London Wildlife Trust, funded by Heritage Lottery Fund.  You are receiving our emails because you either are a volunteer with London Wildlife Trust at Walthamstow Wetlands, or have expressed an interest in volunteering, and have opted to receive our newsletter.