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Somerset Wildlife Trust recognises vital importance of volunteering with launch of brand new action plan

Somerset Wildlife Trust have officially published a brand new Volunteering Action Plan for 2025 - 2030, which lays out the charity’s commitments to volunteers for the next five years. New commitments include developing volunteering across the organisation, regular volunteer management training events, and recognising the importance of volunteers across all areas of work.

Somerset Wildlife Trust has a loyal and skilled team of volunteers – over 350 across nearly 40 different roles – many of whom have helped shape the organisation to become what it is today. In 2023, volunteers gave 12,533 hours to Somerset Wildlife Trust’s reserves, the equivalent of £144,995 of paid time. 

Volunteering for Somerset Wildlife Trust enables the charity to achieve its strategic goals, which include protecting Somerset’s wild places, supporting nature to recover across the county and beyond, and engaging with local communities to help more people connect with nature. Volunteers can benefit by gaining new experiences, boosting their wellbeing, and strengthening their connection to their community — depending on their own motivations. 

With volunteer recruitment more challenging than ever, at both a local and national level, Somerset Wildlife Trust has spent the last year researching volunteering across the UK, consulting with current volunteers and staff to help produce the charity’s very first Volunteer Action Plan. The plan represents Somerset Wildlife Trust’s five-year plan for volunteering, setting out how it hopes volunteers will support the Trust, how the Trust will support volunteers, and how volunteering opportunities will evolve. 

Hannah Paddison, Volunteering & Community Support Officer at Somerset Wildlife Trust, says:  

“Our volunteers are vitally important to us – without them we would cease to exist as an organisation. That’s why it's important that volunteering is recognised and valued as a key mechanism to achieving nature recovery and our Wilder 2030 strategy goals across Somerset. A massive thank you to everyone who contributed their time, opinions and expertise to developing this plan.” 

Becky Fisher, Head of Engagement at Somerset Wildlife Trust, adds:  

“Delivering our Wilder 2030 strategy with the help of volunteers requires us to develop an inclusive culture of volunteering, embedded across the Trust. We will be working towards achieving these commitments over the next five years, working with each team across our organization to support staff and review progress on an annual basis.” 

You can read the plan and find all our current volunteering opportunities by visiting the Somerset Wildlife Trust website: www.somersetwildlife.org/get-involved/volunteering 

About Somerset Wildlife Trust

Somerset Wildlife Trust is a nature conservation charity. Its purpose is to restore and protect the populations of species across the county and the habitats they call home. Climate change is one of the greatest threats to nature, natural habitats and the ecosystems that support our life on earth.  Our aims are to help address both the ecological and climate crises and put nature back into people’s lives. 

Nature reserves and protected sites on their own are not enough. In order to reverse the decline in species diversity and abundance, and create resilient landscapes and habitats for wildlife and for people that can adapt to climate change, we need to:   

  • Encourage and support landowners to manage their land positively for nature; create more space for nature.  
  • Connect wildlife-rich spaces across the wider landscape to create a robust Nature Recovery Network for Somerset.  
  • Create a movement of people – at least 1 in 4 – that take action for nature’s recovery across Somerset as part of Team Wilder.   

This is at the core of our new 10-year strategy. Nationally the Wildlife Trusts are calling for at least 30% of land to be managed positively for nature by 2030. What we do in Somerset must contribute to that national ambition. You can read our full 10-year strategy Wilder Somerset here. 

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