volunteeringnewsHi everyone! Welcome to the Summer 2009 edition of Volunteering News. We have some great articles from

volunteers, updates on events in the parks, and a report by Toni Assirati about Royal Parks volunteering and the future.

The Volunteer Social Day will take place at Kew Gardens on Tuesday 1st September 2009. Details about how to book a place on this trip or on a volunteer training session are listed on the flyer inside.

Thanks to all the volunteers who have contributed articles and photos. Please submit your ideas for the next edition as soon as possible. Thank you to all volunteers for your hard work in The Royal Parks. Enjoy the summer!

Jen Estwick, Volunteer Co-ordinator. Tel: 020 7298 2107 Email: jestwick@royalparks.gsi.gov.uk

I have been an artist volunteer at the Holly Lodge Centre for over a year and in particular have been doing a lot of work with the Whitton Community Resource Centre group. We usually meet on Mondays and a great rapport has been built up with the very differing personalities within the group. They always want to come back for more and it is such a joy helping them paint and express themselves while making sculpture, with clay and other materials. One of the highlights was doing paintings on canvas with them, for their pirate party, and seeing them dressed up as pirates on the night of their dance at York House, Twickenham.

There have been many memorable tasks including working with Mark Parker from ‘Kitevibe’, during the Big Draw, inspiring

children to make and design kites. Seeing their faces when they first flew their colourful creations was fantastic. Helping environmental artist Creeping Toad leaf-print, with different age groups, to produce nature books of Richmond Park and working with Linden Bridge School, to look for inspiration for The Royal Parks Foundation Deckchair Dreams project last year, were other unforgettable tasks. Many schools and well-known artists were included in designing a deck chair and the winners have their design printed and made up. I attended the auction where a Tracey Emin deckchair sold for £17,000 and the proceeds went to The Royal Parks Foundation.

My latest project has been restoring the 19th century Mrs Sawyer Milk dairy cart. Doing the sign writing has

brought back memories of sign writing on yachts in Suffolk to earn a buck while going through art school many years ago.

Whistling bird songs is something I enjoy doing and I have been known to whistle while out walking with the groups. One of the funny moments of the year was when my

wife came home to find me whistling bird noises on the phone to a researcher from BBC’s The One Show as they were looking for the new Percy Edwards. [I didn’t get the role!]

This year I have enjoyed working with and meeting many talented volunteers at the Holly Lodge Centre and hope many years will follow.

A VOLuNTEER’S YEAR AT THE HOLLY LODGE CENTRE - ‘SPECIAL NEEDS IN A SPECIAL PLACE’ BY DAVID DALLEY

RICHMOND PARK

David Dalley working on Mrs Sawyer’s dairy cart

SuMMER 2009

volunteeringnews SuMMER 2009

POND ANIMALS TRAININGBY NIGEL COWLIN VOLuNTEER AT THE HOLLY LODGE CENTRE, RICHMOND PARK

Ten Royal Parks’ volunteers attended an ‘Aquatic Invertebrate Training’ course at the Stockyard Education Centre in Bushy Park on April 28th. Our tutor was Dr Nigel Reeve, The Royal Parks’ Head of Ecology. Overall, it was a most informative, stimulating and enjoyable day which catered well for the different levels of knowledge and experience amongst the volunteers.

until lunch we were in

POND SIDEL-R: Sam Wilkinson (Ecology Officer), Nigel Reeve (Head of Ecology), Nigel Cowlin (Volunteer, Richmond), Rex Holmes (Volunteer, Bushy Park)

the classroom having a slide presentation from Dr Reeve. This provided a fascinating and comprehensive overview of the biodiversity in London’s eight Royal Parks and an insight into the challenges in managing this effectively. The grasslands, mammals, invertebrate communities, ancient trees and water bodies all exist alongside 30 million visitors a year and all take much experience and hard work by staff and volunteers to nurture and enhance. After a welcome lunch and a gloriously sunny

morning, dark clouds threatened so extra fleeces and wellies were donned! Pond dipping equipment was carried to the nature trail ponds where we split into (strictly non-competitive!) groups and commenced dipping. For me as a complete novice this was a new and intriguing experience and an opportunity to learn the basics. For the more experienced, the challenge was the netting and identification of ever rarer species.

Back in the classroom my highlight of the day was Dr Reeve showing us the 20+ invertebrate species individually that we had collected under the video microscope – an amazing piece of equipment which magnified everything onto

a large plasma screen TV. For example, I now know: greater water boatman swim on their backs, whilst lesser water boatman opt for their fronts; leeches move in an extraordinary looping locomotion and damselfly nymphs have the largest eyes relative to body size of any creature I’ve seen. As for the alder

fly’s vicious jaws – I suggest midges and mayflies stay away!

Huge thanks are due for an excellent day to Dr Nigel Reeve and to Education Officers Sophie Bryant and Hannah Pritchard who supported us and managed all the arrangements for the day superbly.

Now up-to-date, the Look Out hut no longer keeps the peace,Its days of housing policeman, many years ago did cease;

Today we have a younger crowd to educate and teachOf park use, plants, and animals, from ‘greylag goose’ to ‘leech’.

Respect and understanding are the goals we aim for nowAs children learn of wildlife, they ask: Where?, Why?, What? and How?

Their visits only happen with support from volunteers,A committed group who like to share the wisdom of their years.

With care and dedication, help the youngsters bloom and grow,By working as a team you’ll see, we’re not a one-man show;

Together we’ll continue, to enliven and inspire As we harness creativity, raise expectations higher;

We’ll show to generations hence, our park needs looking after,A place for relaxation, full of happiness and laughter.

HYDE PARKNot a One Man Show

An extract from a poem by Nick Lane (Education Officer)

BuSHY PARK

Bushy Park Training

2009 marks the third, and final, year of the St James’s Park Allotment. The allotment site was first set up in 2007 in partnership with the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms and was designed as an opportunity to visualise the differences between the ‘Dig For Victory’ wartime allotment campaign and the modern approach to growing organic produce. In its first year alone, 200,000 people visited the site, including school children and local voluntary groups.

In 2008 the allotment was again used for an extensive community engagement project adopting the theme ‘War on Waste’. This campaign took sustainability and recycling to a new level, offering expert advice to people who wanted to know about gardening as well as providing a range of arts and crafts for visitors. Again, over 200,000 people visited the site over the summer.

Following on from the success of the previous two years (though no longer in partnership with the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms) The Royal Parks continues its lead in raising awareness of organic food growing, sustainability and recycling. This year’s focus for the allotment is ‘Growing in Small Spaces’. Emphasis is being placed on the fact that you don’t require a huge space to be able to grow a variety of healthy food products and a continuing programme of school and community engagement will help reinforce the message.

Anyone wishing to volunteer please contact Andy Nisbet. Tel: 020 7298 2055 Email: anisbet@royalparks.gsi.gov.uk

ST JAMES’S PARK ALLOTMENT 2009 BY ANDY NISBET ST JAMES’S PARK ALLOTMENT VOLuNTEER CO-ORDINATOR

ST JAMES’S PARK

During the spring and early summer of 2008 the Education and Community Engagement Department undertook a piece of research that involved volunteers. Consultant Di Wheatley was appointed to examine closely the work of the volunteers and how they support The Royal Parks. Di carried out interviews with a number of staff members and volunteer organisations, examined and collected statistical information, and listened to the experiences of individuals both as volunteers and as line managers. The four groups examined most closely were volunteers who work directly for The

Royal Parks, voluntary organisations who work in partnership with The Royal Parks, volunteer organisations who provide services which support The Royal Parks objectives and the Friends of The Royal Parks.

Each park was looked at individually and the organisation as a whole. It was a very large piece of work and the end product was a one hundred and fifty page report detailing all activity and the benefits of having volunteers engaged. This was presented at the senior management team meeting and as a result further investigations have taken place.

The Education and Community Engagement Team has looked at other volunteer models in organisations, such as the RSPB and the National Trust and is investigating new models which can be put forward as structures which The Royal Parks can adopt. This will be reported back to the senior management team. As the model of work progresses you will be invited to discuss the new initiatives and we will keep you fully informed. The research report Volunteering In Perspective will shortly be available as a download on The Royal Parks website.

To try and do the research

justice in this short space would be impossible. We would however like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all those who participated in the research and assisted in benchmarking of the volunteers across the parks.

The volunteers are crucial to delivery of our front line services and are always very valued.

Thank you!

THE FuTuRE OF VOLuNTEERING IN THE ROYAL PARKS

TONI ASSIRATI (HEAD OF EDuCTATION AND COMMuNITY ENGAGEMENT)

Toni Assirati

volunteeringnews SuMMER 2009

www.royalparks.org.uk

GREENWICH PARK

WILDLIFE OPEN DAY IN GREENWICH PARK BY SuE YATES (CHAIR OF THE WILDLIFE GROuP)

The Friends of Greenwich Park Wildlife group’s annual Open day was on Saturday 18th April this year and enjoyed glorious weather (we had the wettest day of the year in 2008). The event is based in and around the Secret Garden Wildlife Centre (SGWC) in the lovely flower garden.

Kim McGee, an experienced puppeteer gave wildlife based puppet shows to capacity audiences at intervals throughout the day, whilst Esme Partridge, who is brilliant at coming up with ideas for craft activities

for children, worked with a team to help 200 youngsters make beautiful bookmarks with a wildlife theme.

Guided Tree Walks were also on offer, led by Toni Assirati, The Royal Parks Head of Education and Community Engagement, who kindly joined us for the day to help with activities. Harry Whitehead, a new volunteer, escorted Bird Walks aimed at slightly

older children and adults whilst I made a tentative first attempt at Bird Walks for much younger children. Harry, also being a butterfly enthusiast,

brought along 3 Oleander Hawk Moth caterpillars which he had bred at home. Parents and children alike gasped at the sight of these 8cm bright emerald green monsters with huge ‘false’ eye markings.

Nadia Penn, who I met at a ‘Wild in the Park’ event 2 years ago, generously volunteered to join us for the day. She is an RSPB trained face-painter and butterflies and birds appeared on the hands and cheeks of many a youngster.

I think it is fair to say, however, that the most original offering came from Roger Taylor and Mary Lockwood from the Dartford Ringing Group.

There was an early site visit to decide where they would position their mist nets and then Shirley Cook put feeders nearby to make sure that there would be a good level of bird activity in the area of the nets on the Saturday. It worked well and during the course of the day they netted 5 Blue Tits, 3 Robins, 2 Greenfinch,1 Goldfinch, 1 Dunnock and 1 Wren. These were in turn gently weighed, measured, details noted and then ringed. All this information is fed into the British Trust for

Ornithology data base. The one Blackcap which was netted was already ringed and, in due course, we will find out where and when it had been previously captured. To see these birds at such close quarters, so calm in the hands of an expert, is a rare and wonderful experience whatever your age.

Great thanks go to Jenni Newnham, who co-ordinated the volunteers and helped on the day. None of this would have been possible without them and so a great thank

you to everyone who helped before, during or after the event. The volunteers involved were: Jenni Newnham, Eve Cane, Faith Keymer, Shirley Cook, Elaine Warrell, Diana Skidmore, John Mitchell, Brendan Hicks, Esme Partridge, Jean Thomas, Pat Harris, Jan Hodges, Mavis Lissenden, Laura Fraser, Valerie Byford, Sally Ward, Sally Pearce, and Harry Whitehead.

Blue Tit Goldfinch

Robin

volunteeringnews SuMMER 2009

The Royal Parks The Old Police HouseHyde ParkLondon W2 2uHTel: 020 7298 2000

Tony Assirati Head of Education & Community Engagement Tel: 020 7298 2006. Email: tassirati@royalparks.gsi.gov.uk