Exmoor Volunteer News Spring 2019

Spring has sprung on Exmoor, wild garlic, primroses and daffodils have

arrived. Lighter evenings are slowly returning and the promise of new beginnings. This season's newsletter is action packed with all sorts of simple ways of volunteering on Exmoor.. Some fun things to do with the whole family too.

If you would like any further information about volunteering, please get in touch with Patrick, Jess, Jackie on getinvolved@exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk

Great British Spring Clean 22nd March - 23rd April 2019 #GBSpringClean

Help care for your local wild places as part of the Great British Spring Clean organised by Keep Britain Tidy.

Donate a couple of hours of your time and join Keith Hunt (Exmoor's Keep Britain Tidy Ambassador) at one of the following events to help keep Exmoor clean.

Email or phone Keith if you fancy coming along - keithj.hunt@icloud.com 07927 798191

The Great British Spring Clean - North Hill, Minehead. Saturday 30th March 10:30 - 12:30 Meet at entrance to The Old Tank Training Ground.
The Great British Spring Clean - Dunster Village. Wednesday 10th April 2pm - 4pm Meet at The Visitor Centre, Dunster Steep.
The Great British Spring Clean - Porlock Bay. Saturday 20th April 10:30 - 12:30 Meet at Bossington NT Car Park

Exmoor Beach Cleans

Porlock's Community Annual Clean Up

Take part in a pre-season clean-up of the Marsh and shingle ridge of Porlock Bay. Sat 30 March 2019 10:00 - 13:00. Meet at Bossington car park.

Join the community group for coffee and cake at 10am before proceeding to the beach. Litter pickers, gloves and bags are provided and suitable clothing and footwear should be worn. Hosted by the National Trust and supported by Exmoor National Park Authority. More details phone 01643 862452

#2minutebeachclean - Minehead

A great one if you are short of time or squeezing this into your lunch break! If you're in the Minehead area why not do a self-led 2 minute beach clean? Channel Adventure in conjunction with the Discovery Centre have a beach clean stand outside The Adventure Centre where the public can come along and collect a bag and a litter picker to conduct a beach clean. Once you've finished your clean, why not shout about it - take a picture and post on social media using the hashtags displayed on the board!

Lynmouth's Big Beach Clean

This promises to be a fun interactive event for all ages, helping to keep Lynmouth's beaches looking brilliant and reducing the plastic in our oceans. All gloves, bags and equipment provided. Saturday 11th May meet at 'The Walker' statue outside Lynmouth Pavilion for a 10am briefing. Family & Dog Friendly event.

Paws on Plastic Facebook group

Are you a regular dog walker? Then why not join www.facebook.com/pawsonplastic group. Members of this group pledge to pick up two pieces of plastic while out walking our beloved hounds. Simply pick items up using a spare poo bag and take it home to empty, into your recycling bin if possible, saving the bag to use again. Post a lovely photo of your dog on this page to celebrate your efforts & spread the word! Remember you are responsible for keeping yourself & any accompanying companions safe. All pieces you pick up are helping to reduce the amount of plastic ending up in the sea.

Opportunity of the Month - Channel Group - Join the T RIBE.

Channel Group share a passion for getting people out and about in our beautiful natural environment. Their roots are in Outdoor Education and all of their activities are designed with people and experience put first.

The Channel Group comprises Channel Training Ltd, Channel Adventure Ltd (a subsidiary) and Channel Events (a division).

There are some fantastic events coming up this year and Channel Grou is on the lookout for support with the following:

Exmoor Perambulation - Saturday 22nd June

Exmoor Explorer - Sunday 4th August

Man vs Moor - Saturday 17th August

Minehead Triathlon - Sunday 6th October

Each of these events requires:

Checkpoint marshals

Route marshals

Feed station staff

Event registration

Route Sweepers

Route Setters

https://www.channelevents.co.uk/volunteers/

Those interested in joining the TRIBE can contact Dan Brice, Operations Director on the following:

events@channelgroup.co.uk

07725 485434

Exmoor

Pony Centre Volunteer Action Day

Another great family volunteering opportunity. Come along and meet the ponies, staff and volun teers. Join in with the spring clean action day or come along to have a look and find out more about the work of the centre, everyone welcome! Tasks for all abilities will be ongoing throughout the day, refreshments included.

More information: www.exmoorponycentre.org.uk . This event is brought to you by: The Moorland Mousie Trust & Exmoor Pony Centre
Location: Exmoor Pony Centre TA22 9QE
Booking: No need to b ook - just turn up
Charge: None
Contact: +441398323093

Citizen Science Opportunities

The Big Butterfly Count and RSPBs Big Garden Bird Watch are great examples of citizen science. It is large scale volunteering with big sets of data which are then analysed. Here are some ways you can get involved...

Exmoor Wild Watch - Exmoor has a fantastic array of wildlife. Some are nationally rare, others we simply do not know enough about. We welcome records for any species you see. Send us your sightings - http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/Whats-Special/exmoor-wildwatch

Devon Biodiversity Records Centre - live off the moor and love wildlife? We'd still love to receive your sightings - www.dbrc.org.uk/tell-us-about-your-sighting/

Taw ny Owl Calling Survey - It's easy to take part - just listen for 20 minutes between Y o u can listen from your garden, local park or woodland. All information is valuable - h ttps://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/project-owl/tawny-owl-calling-survey

OPAL Bugs Count Survey - Join a nationwide bug hunt! The best time to do this surve y is from May to November. Discover the incredible variety of invertebrates that make their homes around us.https://www.opalexplorenature.org/bugscount

Glow Worm Survey - Before the survey started, it was said that there were fewer than 100 sites where glow worms could be found in the UK. The survey has shown that there are in fact hundreds of sites throughout the UK year. More info here https://www.glowworms.org.uk/#Form

Big Hedgehog Map - The People 's Trust for Endangered Spec ies say the BIG Hedgehog map helps us to understand where hedgehogs are in the UK and where they are missing from. Fill in a simple, quick survey form at https://bighedgehogmap.org/

Plantlife Building Resilience in SW Woodlands project

Help create a resource of 'virtual' woodland walks and soundscapes that can be viewed and listened to by people who can't so easily get out into woodlands. They are looking for people who can use a smart phone to take simple videos of their walk in the woods and/or take sound clips or static videos to record sounds. Plantlife will share these sound clips and videos online with details of where/when they were created and we will be promoting them to local communities.

If you are interested in taking part contact rachel.jones@plantlife.org.uk

There's more!

Full details of current volunteering roles across Exmoor National Park are available on the Get Involved section of our website and are updated regularly.

Regular drop-ins with our Community Engagement Coordinator, Jess Twydall are run from National Park Centres in Lynmouth, Dunster and Dulverton. If you'd like to join us to have a chat about volunteering, please get in touch on 01598 751065 or email jtwydall@exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk

Would you like to contribute to the next e-bulletin? Send us your stories and photos of volunteering on Exmoor getinvolved@exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk

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