Citizen Scientists play an important role in collecting, recording and analysing data about our rivers, lakes, surrounding habitats and wildlife. All of this information can help us to establish the overall health of rivers and habitats and can influence future work and projects.

West Cumbria Rivers Trust offers a wide range of volunteering opportunities. Please note that most of our opportunities are seasonal, so even if you don't see something available right now but listed in the General Volunteering Opportunities section, please do still fill in an application form and…

Volunteer with West Cumbria Rivers Trust. Maintaining footpaths in areas such as Walkmill Community Woodlands or along riverways ensures continued access for all and is a fun physical conservation task..

Volunteer with West Cumbria Rivers Trust. To keep tabs on our work and how successful projects have been we run various different monitoring and surveying programmes that we sometimes need volunteer help with. This can be anything from helping to download time lapse footage, to downloading…

Volunteer with West Cumbria Rivers Trust. Plug planting involves planting species such as wildflowers and woodrush as plug plants.

Volunteer with West Cumbria Rivers Trust. Rhododendron is an invasive non-native plant which can quickly spread and outcompete other native species, especially in woodlands. In the winter months we work to chop back and burn Rhododendrons in some areas.

Volunteer with West Cumbria Rivers Trust. Meeting on the fourth Thursday of the month at Walkmill Community Woodlands near Whitehaven, Green Gyms aims to deliver something for everyone's capabilities. We do some physical conservation work and also spend some time enjoying the outdoors.

Volunteer with West Cumbria Rivers Trust. Mink are an invasive non-native species and threaten have a dramatic impact on biodiversity by predating on ground nesting birds, fish and other wildlife. Mink are also well known for being the number one driver in the loss of water vole populations in…

Volunteer with West Cumbria Rivers Trust. In the spring when the river levels begin to drop again, it's the perfect time to head out and pick up any litter washed up over the winter.

Volunteer with West Cumbria Rivers Trust. In areas where riverbanks have perhaps been access points for livestock or have experienced high levels of erosion banks are often weakened and easily spill sediment into the river. Restabilising these banks through using willow can help to retain sediment…

Volunteer with West Cumbria Rivers Trust. American signal crayfish are in invasive non-native species which burrow into banks to increased flood risk as well as outcompete native fish species. Luckily, we have very few American Signal Crayfish in West Cumbria but we do have an ongoing crayfish…

Volunteer with West Cumbria Rivers Trust. Each year in the spring months we help to monitor the smolt trap in the Derwent catchment. For wildlife protection reasons the smolt trap is required to be checked each morning, come rain or shine and any fish in it are measured and identified before being…

Volunteer with West Cumbria Rivers Trust. From July-September we monitor the health of our rivers through carrying out juvenile fish surveys every day. We couldn't carry out this monitoring without the help of our volunteers. These days are long and can be physically demanding, so a certain level…

Volunteer with West Cumbria Rivers Trust. Riverfly are an important part of the river ecosystem providing food for all the larger organisms that live in and around the rivers. Riverfly encompass all small invertebrates that live on and in the sediment at the bottom of the river, from snails to…

Volunteer with West Cumbria Rivers Trust. Leaky dams help to slow the flow through holding water in the upper reaches of the catchment. Leaky dams have a few different forms but always entail installing woody debris/logs in the stream to let high water flows through slowly. Leaky dams also need…

Volunteer with West Cumbria Rivers Trust. Sometimes fences need removing for various reasons and if you have a carefully-destructive streak your help would be appreciated!

Help to keep our beautiful Cumbrian beaches clean and free from litter that could harm wildlife.

Community event volunteers help to connect people to nature and also help people take action to protect nature. Events vary, and include rockpooling, guided walks, eggcase hunts, craft activities, and coastal foraging. Some events are for adults, whereas others are family events. Whatever your…