The Lake District National Park welcomes over 19 million visitors a year, with many of them attracted by the beautiful stretches of water here. The role of our Volunteer Lake Rangers is to positively engage with a wide range of lake users, from open-water swimmers to powerboat drivers. Our…

Learn the practical skills needed to lay a hedge. We have received funding to run these workshops free of charge for you to attend, a free lunch is also provided.The workshops are aimed at those working, or hoping to work, in the farming, land management or conservation sectors. Tickets will be…

Volunteer days are open to all and are a great opportunity to socialise and to learn about forest restoration, as well as contribute to creating more native woodland in Cumbria. Tasks include removing non-native trees, planting native trees, collecting and propagating seeds, and the protection and…

This ancient heritage skill is rapidly disappearing from our countryside. By managing a hedge by ‘laying’, trees are encouraged to regenerate; this extends their life, and that of the hedge as a whole. A well-laid hedge can act as a great barrier to livestock movement as well as providing…

You will be the voice representing the younger populations perspectives, experiences and needs across the Lake District and Cumbria. By being willing to voice these concerns and the innovative ideas, you will help to develop campaigns on the matters that you care about most. You will also have the…

Come and get involved learning about endangered wildflower meadow restoration work at the Cumbria Seed Bank. We are saving seed from 14 rare and declining species to then propagate into plug plants at our conservation nursery at Gosling Sike, then we'll plant them out in specific sites to establish…

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. As the Spring showers begin toads/frogs make their way back to their ponds to mate. Unfortunately, often these journeys require amphibians to cross the road at night, which can be pretty dangerous. Join us on a wet spring evening to collect toads on the…

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. Before we can plant wildflowers on previously degraded land it needs a bit of TLC through various methods to prepare the soil.

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!

Volunteer with West Cumbria Rivers Trust. Himalayan balsam is an invasive non-native species that grows throughout the summer months. It takes over riparian areas to reduce biodiversity and increase flood risk. In the summer months we work to pull it up (an easy task!).

If you would like to join as a volunteer and offer any of your skills, such as Fundraising, IT support, Learning about the breed and hill farmers, or Trustee, then we would love to hear from you and aid us in building our growing team who find it a varied and rewarding experience.

Get the micro-volunteering bug today and join the biggest citizen’s science project that National Parks have ever undertaken. Look Wild uses a free nature identification app that will name plants and animals for you and contribute to a huge National Park-led project at the same time. It’s free to…

Our Young Rangers programme offers a unique opportunity for young people aged 14 to 18 years to get involved in practical conservation volunteering. Young Rangers activities take place every month on a Sunday and are led by experienced Rangers from a several partner organisations including the…

Animal Care & Welfare Assistant Level 2 Apprenticeship. Animal Care and Welfare Assistants look after the routine day to day husbandry and care of domestic and/or wild animals under guidance in a variety of different settings. The work is carried out individually or as part of a team in places such…

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

Our Wildlife Watch groups are for children to make friends with other nature detectives and have lots of fun taking part in practical nature activities - from pond dipping to wildlife safaris.

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…

Get stuck in to practical task on a hands-on conservation day. There's plenty of wildflower planting to do, scrub and bramble removal, bracken bashing, and invasive plant removal, as well as path, bridge and boundary repairs. Lace up your boots and come and join us!