Volunteering at Gatton

At Gatton we offer a wide range of volunteering opportunities for both individuals and groups. Our volunteers help out with all aspects of running the estate from practical working outside to helping out in the office. We are also very experienced in running corporate volunteering days for organisations. The volunteers at Gatton make it what it is, if you would like to get involved there are many different ways you can help out! Below are listed some of our current volunteer opportunities. Please do contact us for more details.

Garden restoration and maintenance

The gardens are where the restoration of Gatton began in 1996. Since then the volunteers have brought back to life the rock and water garden, the Japanese garden and The Victorian pleasure gardens. These areas are still developing and need ongoing maintenance. Garden volunteers are involved in all aspects of maintenance including planting, weeding and pruning. Opportunities are available on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Parkland Management Assistant

 

The majority of Gatton Parks 250 acres are made up of parkland. This is a mixture of woodlands, grasslands and lakes which is home to a diverse array of wildlife. Volunteers in the parkland help the park warden to manage these different habitats. This work involves hands on woodland and grassland management, habitat creation and surveying.

Estate Tour Guides

 

Gatton Park has a rich heritage that we are keen to share with as many people as possible. This opportunity provides you with the chance to develop tours around the park and gardens by using the resources of our recently developed archive. If you a have passion for history and natural flare for talking to groups, Gatton Park provides a wonderful setting for you develop your interests. Basic training in how to use the archive and deliver park and garden tours will be given.

Kitchen Garden Volunteer

 

Get involved in a project to restore the areas of the walled kitchen gardens. An area of kitchen garden has been reinstated by volunteers, for use mainly by the children of the RAA School. A variety of different fruits, vegetables and herbs were planted and harvested; now the Garden needs some preparatory work to settle it into winter. It would be great if you have any gardening/food growing experience though this is not essential. We are happy for volunteers to come anytime during the week that fits in with your schedule. We also intend to establish an orchard to complement the small orchard that we already have. With this opportunity you have the option to either work on the gardens, in a small group, or alongside the teachers working with the children. It would be great if you have any food growing experience though this is not essential.

Animal Care Assistant

 

Help us with the management of the animals that we keep in the park. If you like an early start (8am) you will be working with our staff to help with the management of our chickens and goats. Mainly cleaning out and feeding but also maintaining their areas, fencing and houses. We also plan to get piglets in the Summer which will require a lot of care and attention!

 

No experience is required as training will be given, but if you do have experience it would be very useful.

Can you help the Education Team?

 

Office Manager – Look after the office when the staff are out with school groups - Manning the phone, taking bookings, giving information on events, checking emails.

 

Office Assistants – Computer work, marketing, administration such as bookings, promotional mailing etc. You can have an area of responsibility or carry out whatever tasks are required that day.

 

Education Assistants - To assist with school groups that visit the park. Engage and involve children and their teachers or carers studying environment linked topics around the park.

 

'Blue Peter' Volunteers – Arts & Crafts, cutting, sticking, colouring, laminating; to prepare for children's activities.

 

Fundraiser – A literate, organised person who can help with completing application forms and writing letters to sponsors.

 

Library & Archives – Volunteers help with collecting, photocopying, laminating etc various pieces of Gatton's rich history and finding relevant documents as requests come in.

 

Weekend Education Assistants – assisting with activities for children, birthday parties, events.

 

Do you have a special skill valuable to Gatton eg photography, web administration, art?? If so please get in touch we would love to hear from you!

 

For all volunteering opportunities

 

For more information call or email the volunteer and community project officer

Tel: 01737 649 068
fernwarwickching@gatton-park.org.uk

Corporate and team building volunteering

We offer a wide range of opportunities for groups for community and team building days. Please contact us for more information on the opportunities which are available.

Projects available for 2011

 

• Installing metal tree guards Fitting parkland tree guards to protect the next generation of trees in Park

 

• Footpath Construction Help us to reinstate on of the many paths around the estate

 

• Maths Maze maintenance Carry out maintenance to this much loved educational garden

 

• Planting up new garden features Preparing and planting up new shrub borders or bulb displays

 

• Pond maintenance Clearing weeds and habitat creation on our many ponds

 

• Coppicing & Coppice crafts - Cutting trees in our coppice, then make tools, seats etc from them

 

• Building outdoor classrooms - Constructing outdoor classroom spaces for our education programmes

 

• Bridge Construction - Building bridges to connect up one of our islands to footpath route

 

• Meadow management Hay cutting - Cutting and bringing in the hay from our wild flower meadows

 

• Scrub clearance Clearing shrubs and small trees that have encroached on the park

 

• Tree planting Help us to plant the next generation of trees for Gatton Park

Facilities

 

You will be working alongside our trained staff and volunteers who will guide you through every step of your task. We are also fully insured and will be able to provide you with full risk assessment for the task of your choice.

 

We offer a variety of different facilities to cater for you needs, from pack lunches and BBQs to full cooked meals. You can either be based out in the park or in Gatton Hall, both locations offer toilet and washroom facilities. We can also cater for groups with special requirements, please contact us for more details.

Some examples of previous projects

 

Deloitte September 2011

 

On an amazingly sunny day in September a group of 20 staff from Deloitte came for a day's volunteering in the park. They had specified that they wanted to work with less able people to correspond with them sponsoring the ParaOlympics in 2012. We arranged for a group from EmployAbility (a charity finding work placements for people with learning difficulties) with whom we already work on a regular basis, to come in on the day. The EmployAbility manager thought it was an excellent opportunity to show people what her group could do and everyone was particularly pleased with how wellthey all worked together.

 

They all spent the day down in Temple Wood, putting up a new bird hide and revamping our 'Magical Maths Maze' an outdoor classroom area used by school groups coming in as part of our Education programme. This involved fencing, painting, re laying paths and cutting back the surrounding vegetation.

Travelers Insurance August 2010

 

On 10th August 2010 a team of 15 staff came in for the day from Travelers Insurance. They helped to create an outdoor classroom area by the pond on Cedar Walk using timber grown on site. This involves scrub clearance to open up a magnificent view across the park, and constructing benches from tree trunks, which is a lot of chipping, sawing and eventually sandpapering and smoothing down the seat part of the bench. Although it was pouring down with rain, we swiftly put together some shelter and it turned out to be a great day. Many of them discovered previously well hidden talents in woodwork and they all developed a much greater appreciation of their work colleagues.

Ordnance Survey May 2009

 

On The 15th May we had a group of 21 volunteers from Ordnance Survey come to work in the park. They undertook a number of tasks; installing tree guards to protect the oaks we planted last winter (the deer had already eaten one!), top dressing our paths with woodchip and clearing scrub to open up some of the views across the park.

 

They also built an outdoor classroom on cedar walk using timber and willow grown on the estate. The seats were constructed out of ash using traditional woodworking techniques and the willow was woven into panels. This area has already been getting plenty of use from schools. All the volunteers had a great day and hope to come back for another day.

 

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