Volunteering journeys

There is that often repeated phase, that life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans, and that is certainly what happened to me. My presumed future, ended abruptly, when in January 2021, I found myself homeless, and being supported by a domestic abuse worker; living in temporary emergency accommodation in Penrith, away from my family home near Appleby. This coincided with the third Covid lockdown, leaving me feeling lonely, isolated and certainly confused. With no idea what my future would bring, I told my domestic abuse worker that I was probably autistic, and three months later I was fast tracked to a formal diagnosis.

I was able to get support from a Health and Wellbeing Coach (HAWC) who helped me with the practical and emotional aspects of my life at this time. Just being able to talk to someone was so important to help me find my own focus and direction.

Part of my HAWC’s role was to help me engage with my local community. Initially, this was difficult, as I had no community links in Penrith. All of my family were back in London and I knew no one in the town, and prior to this time I had little connection with the place itself. I soon realised, that nobody was going to be able to do this for me. 

Metaphorically, I knew had to take my life in my hands and give it a good shake it see what fell out. What would be left would be the pieces that I needed to put myself back together again.

My HAWC told me that the Eden Rivers Trust, were celebrating their 25th Anniversary at Lowther Castle and suggested that I might like to go along, so I booked a ticket. It was daunting, because back then, I wasn’t the person I am today. My confidence was shot through, and my self-esteem seemed to be in terminal decline, but what did I have to lose? Nothing could be worse that the things I had already faced.

My first volunteer experience was helping to fit out the wader store at the ERT office, after the move from their former premises at Newton Rigg. Not really my skill set, or my interest, but we all have to start somewhere don’t we?

I signed up for every ERT volunteer opportunity and by doing this, I have learnt so many new skills and experienced new things. I knew nothing about river invertebrates until I trained as a riverfly monitor, I had never heard of white clawed crayfish until I found myself surveying them and later rescuing them at a fish and crayfish rescue at Bowber Head, and I wouldn’t have known anything about the lives of water voles if I had not trained to monitor them for our water vole reintroduction project, ‘Restoring Ratty.’

I had to opportunity to gain a certificate in outdoor emergency first aid, and a level 1 and 2 certificate in water safety. I’ve undertaken training for priority river habitat surveys and a grassland plant survey. None of these things would have been possible if I had not become a volunteer with the Eden Rivers Trust.

I'm also very proud to have earned my licence to trap and vaccinate badgers against Bovine TB with my friends at the Cumbria Badger Vaccination Project; currently based at Naddle Farm at RSPB Haweswater. I know that none of this would have been possible, without the help and support of the Eden Rivers Trust.

When I think of the ERT I think of two things, woodlands and water, and in both environments I feel most at home.

For me, the most memorable things that I have gained from my volunteer experience are the things that could never be planned, those rare and precious moments, when you just happen to be in the right place at the right time; The moment Jenni and I went out to clear an access path and ate our lunch on the river bank, whilst a flashing kingfisher patrolled up and down. The moment I saw boxing hares at Crake Trees Manor Farm or when a buzzard dropped a live stoat from its talons as it took flight. These are the special moments that made it into my diary entry on those days.
 

My personal experiences and the social isolation I faced during Covid certainly made me re-evaluate my thinking about human connectivity and society and I have had to change my attitude for my own wellbeing. I had lost connection with the family I had brought to Cumbria so I had to make a conscious effort to create a ‘family’ of my own. The other ERT volunteers and staff that I have met along the way have certainly filled that role. I believe that the ERT tree nursery has been fundamental to this, as it acted as a catalyst for turning a group of conservation volunteers into a cohesive group of friends.

I find getting my hands into the soil and growing plants, is a very grounding and mindful thing to do and if I am not feeling too sociable, other volunteers are sensitive enough to give me some quite space to recharge by social battery. Our friendships and connections have grown far beyond the the boundaries of our nursery. I have celebrated birthdays, attended village fundraisers and dinner parties, ran trail races, gone on walks, and attended lectures and films with other volunteers.