26 Oct RSPCA seeks nature nurturers to become Wildlife Friends volunteers
The RSPCA wants nature lovers to embrace the call of the Autumn and sign up to be a Wildlife Friend.
As the days shorten with the clocks going back, the weather becoming chillier and the trees around us filling with stunning shades of red and yellow and purple and gold, there can’t be a more satisfying time to be spending outdoors.
The season of “mists and mellow fruitfulness” throws up familiar sights and sounds like conkers dropping from Horse Chestnut trees and skeins of migrating geese taking over the skies – you might even glimpse the sight of a Harvest Moon rising above the evening horizon.
So why not don your boots and gardening gloves and have a go at some of the fantastic tasks the RSPCA’s volunteering department have devised so people can play their part in a one million strong movement to change the lives of animals for the better?
Last year around 2,000 people signed up for the charity’s Wildlife Friends scheme as part of the Big Help Out, a nationwide volunteering initiative which marked the King’s Coronation. This year 1,950 volunteers have already taken part since Wildlife Friends was relaunched again in the Spring.
Among the tasks they have been working on include spring cleaning bird feeders, leaving food out for hedgehogs and even larger projects such as building bug hotels and planting wildlife-friendly plants to support local ecosystems.
There are 24 self-service tasks for Wildlife Friends volunteers to complete in 2024 with different tasks set for each of the four seasons. Points are earned when completing tasks and those volunteers who earn a set number or more during a season are awarded a seasonal certificate.
RSPCA head of volunteering Brian Reeves said: “We all share our neighbourhoods with wonderful wildlife and we need to protect them. By becoming an RSPCA Wildlife Friend, animal lovers can join with their community to make a safe space for the animals who share our world.
