On the final day of Volunteers' Week we're pointing you in the direction of full time volunteering


It's an excellent way to start your countryside career, to gain some of the vital practical skills that will set you up for a lifetime and generate opportunities to meet friends and colleagues who will support you through your working life.   It's not possible for everyone, the practicalities of real life often mean that you are able unable to work for free, this is why some of the placements offer free accommodation and other living expenses so don't write it off completely without checking how the organisations can help you.  It's true that they need your labour and assistance but they also want to create the next generation of nature guardians and no one is more pleased than a volunteer coordinator when one of their recruits moves on into a 'proper' job. 

Kate Barker, Volunteering Development Officer at WWT said in September 2014: "What I enjoy most about volunteer recruitment is following the volunteers’ personal journeys and seeing them flourish. Everyone’s different. It’s only when you stop to listen to people you find out what’s motivating them, what their challenges are, what their dreams are. I’ve seen people’s faces light up when they are given the opportunity to try something they’ve always wanted to do, and they’re usually a little daunted too, now they’ve finally got the chance.  We work as a team and give people the training and support they need."  Read more.

Read about Lancashire Wildlife Trust's highly successfultrainee scheme, first published in the February edition of CJS Focus. "The success of the traineeship can be seen in the eight trainees that secured further employment or voluntary field work within 3 months of completing the traineeship, taking up various positions with Natural England, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, ecology firms and outdoor education companies. 3 of the most recent trainees are currently looking for positions within the ecology sector."