Hip hip hooray for volunteers!!!

Ever thought to yourself, ‘this looks dreadful, someone should pick all that litter up’, or ‘I wish they wouldn’t build on my local green space, someone should do something to stop that’, or ‘kids don’t know about the different trees and plants anymore, someone should be teaching the next generation about nature’...............well guess what?

Someone did!

Our incredible army of volunteers, over 17,000, decided to be that ‘someone’ and for over 125 years RSPB volunteers have been offering their time and passion and skills to support our work. Because of volunteers, the RSPB runs 200 nature reserves, fights developments that threaten native wildlife and even pioneers projects to save the albatross; and this is just the tip of the Iceberg. I started volunteering when I was at university because I was worried about wildlife and I was tired of wishing ‘someone’ would do something.

We have nearly 100 volunteers at Sandwell and they help us with everything from putting up fence posts to surveying wildlife, from answering our phones to educating the next generation about the birds and the beasties that make nature amazing. The list goes on, and on...

Susan Spencer receiving her 5 year service award.

One of our team has just received her 5 year long service award, so I thought I would use this opportunity to tell you a little bit about this wonderful volunteer.

Since 2009 Susan Spencer has volunteered on Sunday afternoons in our lakeside hide, binoculars at the ready and on hand to show passing visitors the wildlife that can be seen. Although Susan works Monday to Friday, she is happy to come down to Sandwell on Sunday afternoons as a way to unwind and relax. This visitor volunteer role is very important indeed. Susan, like the other hide volunteers, is our front line support and key to enthusing local people about the nature reserve and its incredible wildlife.

Like many of our volunteers, Susan wears many volunteer hats; she is now the (first ever) RSPB Sandwell Valley community forum Chairperson.

The community forum has been running for nearly two years. The forum represents different sections of our local community. They have identified target themes which include; youth, learning, family, wellbeing, history, volunteering, conservation, ethnic minorities and local residents. Our aim is to use the forum to direct the work we do at Sandwell Valley nature reserve so we can become a successful community resource, as well as an important home for wildlife in the midlands.

Sandwell Valley Nature Reserve is unique, unlike the majority of our nature reserves; this one sits tantalisingly close to thousands of homes, busy motorways and businesses. Working with the community in mind is so important. We want more people than ever before to visit, using the site for meetings, picnics or just somewhere to escape to for a couple of hours. Susan Spencer and the rest of the community forum will hopefully help us achieve this goal.

Susan has worked for more than 30 years in the voluntary sector and social housing in Birmingham, London and Wolverhampton. She has specialised in community outreach and engagement in disadvantage communities, working in Birmingham’s inner city and with minority and ethnic communities. We are so grateful that you choose to support the RSPB, so THANK YOU Susan Spencer.

If you feel like you want to be ‘someone’ too, then email me at nadia.shaikh@rspb.org.uk.