BDBC’s Ranger Services Team manage over 300 hectares of green space for biodiversity. They have plenty of opportunities for corporate groups
of volunteers to join them on site for the day, helping with a variety of practical habitat management tasks. Tasks include coppicing woodlands, scrub clearance on meadows, creating dead hedges, thicket thinning, scrub clearance in wildlife corridors, pond clearance, and tree planting. These days are run free of charge and all necessary PPE, tools, tea and coffee are provided! It is a great opportunity to do some team building, get out of the office, connect with nature, and help the Rangers support biodiversity across the borough! This works best with teams of between 8 and 20 people, and sessions tend to run from 09:30 – 15:00 but they can be flexible with timings. These sessions are run between the months of September and March, to avoid issues with the bird nesting season. If you’re interested or want some more information about volunteering, please email wildlifeconservation@basingstoke.gov.uk
Basingstoke Canal Society regularly host corporate working parties and have various activities they can offer. These include:
Some of the tasks can be carried out either from the towpath or from a working boat. Depending on time of year some of the tasks may need to be paused due to nesting birds.
The day usually starts at 10am and finishes by 3pm, in most locations there are no facilities therefore the team would need to bring refreshments although where possible BCS try to start near a pub so volunteers can grab something to eat or drink afterwards. There are various locations along the 32 miles of the canal with available parking.
The team would be looked after by qualified team leaders. All the team leads have been through and passed Hampshire County Council’s team leader course. In addition they all hold valid First Aid certificates for water safety. Everyone comes under Hampshire’s PLI, even if working in Surrey. We would create a site specific Risk Assessment and Task Sheet and would need to add the volunteer names and their emergency contact details.
BCS ask for a minimum of 6 volunteers and can have groups up to 20 who would be doing land based activities, for water borne tasks we can only have 6 in the boat, though we do swap them around so everyone gets an opportunity to do different things and would be suitable for a total team of 12.
All the work is manual, no power tools to be used, and we will supply all required equipment and PPE.
There is no set fee, although BCS ask that if possible a donation is considered Corporate Supporters – The Basingstoke Canal Society
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The Rights of Way and Countryside Access Team are looking for corporate groups to help improve countryside access for the community. For only £30pp (per day) their Rangers can lead your group on numerous tasks including:
If you are interested to find out more, please email PROW@hants.gov.uk with the following information and a member of the Countryside Access Team will get back to you: