Saving Planet Earth

I began volunteering with the RSPB in 2002, when I was 16 years old. I can honestly say that it has been the most rewarding and enjoyable commitment that I have made in my life.

I have always been infatuated with wildlife and nature. As a child, I was a member of the YOC (now the Wildlife Explorers, the youth section of the RSPB), and discovered my local RSPB nature reserve, Sandwell Valley.

At 15, I had to spend some time away from home in hospital. Upon leaving the hospital, I re-entered sixth form, but was inevitably a year behind my friends, who left to go to university.

That summer, I became very lonely. I visited the reserve for the first time in several years, remembering it as a place that had made me happy as a child.

Watching wildlife

I entered the visitor centre and a sea of smiling faces greeted me. I soon found myself chatting away to the assistant warden and realised to my surprise that all the smiling faces were actually volunteers.

Surrounded by other people who loved wildlife and were so friendly to me, I was definitely enthusiastic when I discovered that I could spend time at the reserve as a volunteer, and live out my childhood fantasy of being a warden on a nature reserve! I have not looked back since!

Over my years at RSPB Sandwell Valley, my voluntary role has evolved and become a very important part of my life.

There are always so many useful and diverse things that are to be done on the reserve and everything you do makes a real difference.

Doughnut filled fun days

I help on the doughnut-fuelled and often hilarious working party days, doing habitat management. I am part of the team who run a Holiday Wildlife club for young people in school holidays, and I am a youth leader for the RSPB Phoenix group (for local teenage members of the RSPB).

I work with the public, meeting and greeting visitors, serving in the shop and representing the RSPB at fun-days and large-scale events. I now even run events for visiting groups such as cub scouts and rainbows.

My volunteering experience with the RSPB has definitely played a large role in my decisions regarding the rest of my life. It has provided fuel for my ever-growing love of nature, wildlife and conservation. I shall soon be embarking on a degree in ‘Zoology with Conservation’.

The RSPB team in Birmingham

Getting paid work

Last year I was offered a summer contract job with the RSPB.

The years of volunteering I have done with the society has undoubtedly been invaluable and the knowledge which I have gained is now proving extremely useful in enabling me to carry out additional work in conservation.

I love volunteering for the RSPB, because it has created the opportunity for me to grow in my love for the wildlife that lives on my doorstep, and spread this appreciation to other people.

It has also given me some wonderful experiences that have created some of my new hobbies, such as bat detecting and bird-ringing. It has inspired me and confirmed that working with people and wildlife conservation is what I want to do with the rest of my life.

Pippa.