Welcome Team Volunteer – help us enthuse visitors about nature and wildlife! If you’re a great ‘people person’ this could be just the role for you.
Thank you for your interest in volunteering here at Rainham Marshes!
The RSPB has almost 18,000 fantastic volunteers and they come from all walks of life.
Our volunteering roles can be tailored to your skills, interests and circumstances.
You do not have to be an RSPB member to volunteer with us.
If you are under 18 we need the permission of your parent or guardian before we can take you on as a volunteer.
Time Commitment: We’re very flexible on this. You may be able to give us 4 hours a week, 4 hours a month, 1 day a week, 1 day a month – you choose! Or, perhaps you’re between jobs or on sabbatical and therefore able to give a greater number of hours, weekly, over a short period of time (eg, a month or two)
Time of Year Required: anytime, all year round.
As a volunteer we don’t expect you to go out of pocket so would of course reimburse any out-of-pocket travel expenses (up to a radius of 25 miles from the reserve)
Why we want you
RSPB Rainham Marshes is one of the very few ancient landscapes remaining in London, located right next to the River Thames. Visitors to the nature reserve can expect to see breeding wader birds in spring and summer, large flocks of wild ducks in winter, birds of prey, water voles and rare dragonflies.
We want to ensure that every visitor to the reserve gets a warm welcome and is inspired to come back again and again – this is where you come in!
We’re looking to build a team of Welcome Volunteers whose role it is to, (yes, you guessed it!) welcome visitors to the reserve. We’d like a mix of Welcome Volunteers out on the reserve and in the visitor centre. We’d also love Welcome Volunteers to represent the RSPB and Rainham Marshes at external local events too if possible, eg, fairs – though if you’d prefer to volunteer purely at the reserve then that’s equally fine with us.
The key attribute we’re looking for is ‘people’ skills – you’d need to be very comfortable and happy chatting to people and understand the importance of giving our visitors a great experience. Specifically we’d need you to: enthuse visitors about Rainham marshes and the wildlife they can see there; provide them with all the information they’d need to make the most of their visit (we’d brief you on all this beforehand); motivate people about the work of the RSPB and ask them whether they’d like to become a member (if they aren’t already).
Other tasks may include answering the telephone, taking events booking and serving customers.
NB We’d train you in everything you need to know beforehand and you DON’T need to be a bird expert. Just have a passion for nature and wildlife.
What’s in it for you?
A wonderful opportunity to really make a difference to our work in an amazing setting! Meet lots of new people: reserve visitors, staff and fellow volunteers. Learn more about the reserve and the wildlife that uses it.
The RSPB is the country’s largest nature conservation body, inspiring everyone to give nature a home. Volunteering can help you gain skills and give you a valuable insight into our work.
The skills you need
If you’re a ‘people person’, friendly, approachable and have good understanding of the importance of giving visitors a first class experience then this could be the role for you!
You need to be confident initiating conversations with people and tailoring your conversation to suit.
You need to be comfortable and confident asking visitors whether they’re already RSPB members and if not, whether they’d like to join as a member.
We’d train you in everything you need to know beforehand and you DON’T need to be a bird expert. Just have a passion for nature and wildlife.
Who to contact
Howard Vaughan
Tel: 01708 899840
E-mail: howard.vaughan@rspb.org.uk
Notes
We’d reimburse you for any out of pocket travel expenses (up to a 25 mile radius), provide you with ongoing support in your role and invite you to reserve thank you events.
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