Local Conservation Holidays
We run a small number of weekend and week-long Conservation Holidays every year, as part of The Conservation Volunteers's national and international programme. The local ones are listed below.
Holidays give people the change to go away independently or perhaps with a friend or partner, to work with a group of like-minded people on a practical conservation volunteering project. Locally these all start on a Friday (weekends) or Saturday (week-long).
The Holidays are run in partnership with a wide range of land managers, from local authorities and other public bodies, through to community groups, schools and private landowners. As well as tacking projects that help to protect and enhance our biodiversity, most Holidays also help to mitigate the effects of climate change, or help to improve access or interpretation of greenspaces, to enable people to enjoy them more.
Conservation Holiday volunteers carry out a wide range of activities, such as rebuilding dry-stone walls, managing woodlands, restoring heathlands, hedge-laying, improving public access (via path, step, fence, stile and boardwalk construction and maintenance), caring for community gardens, planting hedges and trees; the list is nearly endless!
The Conservation Volunteers provides all the tools and equipment needed, along with the food for meals (which are normally prepared by the group), refreshments for tea breaks etc and arranges the accommodation and insurance cover. All projects are run by fully trained Residential Project Leaders and most are suitable for anyone over the age of 16 to attend independently.
You generally don't need any special skills to go on a Conservation Holiday, other than a willingness to get involved and a basic level of physical fitness. There isn't an interview process and we don't ask for a commitment from anyone for more than one Holiday at a time. We provide on-site, informal training and guidance as part of our delivery of them, to ensure that everyone can make a personal contribution to their delivery and learn through this process too. Many people choose to attend a Conservation Holiday as their first taste of conservation volunteering.
All prices include VAT. Most Holidays offer an 'Earlybird" discount on the prices below too, if you book early.
