Join the Ealing Park Rangers to work on essential conservation projects in Ealing Parks. Every Tuesday morning a group of Ealing’s Park Rangers goes out with volunteers to do outdoor maintenance tasks. As a volunteer you will engage in a range of activities from coppicing our woodlands to clearing riverside areas.
These activities are replicating historical land management going back hundreds sometimes thousands of years, when willow, hazel, ash, alder and oak were staples of the economy. You can find out more on coppicing and other techniques from the Woodland Trust woodland management. Riverside maintenance tasks include improving access to tackle invasive plants like Giant Hogweed, Himalayan Balsam, and Japanese Knotweed. Another volunteer activity is building ‘dead hedges’ for habitat and the creation of wild areas.
Benefits of volunteering
Conservation Volunteering is a great way to spend time outdoors, getting exercise in good company, and learning land-management skills.
Here are some of the many benefits:
- Keeping active: Volunteering in the park is a good alternative to the gym. It gives you a workout in inspiring natural surroundings.
- Improving your local area: These activities will improve the park and the neighbourhood.
- Wellbeing increases by spending a day in a beautiful place surrounded by nature, combined with doing practical tasks. It has an uplifting and positive effect on emotional and mental wellbeing.
- Team work: through working together on outdoors conservation tasks, individuals gain a better understanding of how they work together. Plus they develop problem solving, developing their own leadership and teamworking capabilities.
- Making a contribution to your community.
- Satisfaction: There is great personal benefit in doing something worthwhile for nature and your local community. By volunteering it is something tangible that you can be proud of. Plus as a result of your activities the park will be enjoyed by many others.
- Developing Conservation Skills which can be applied in other contexts.
Brent Lodge Park
Ealing Park Ranger Carl Smith, who works out of Brent Lodge Park, runs the Tuesday sessions, usually from 1000 till 1300. If you would like to join these events, please email Carl, SmithCa@ealing.gov.uk. and he will add you to his mailing list, to keep you updated of upcoming activities. Equipment, instruction and insurance cover are provided.
For more details on volunteering at Ealing parks, see Become a park volunteer with Ealing Park Rangers.
