As People Engagement Officer for Ramsey Island, my main role is recruiting new members to the Society. Recruitment on an island has its extra challenges from ‘mainland reserves’ as Ramsey is still having to close some days due to sea-faring conditions being too rough for visitors to be brought across Ramsey Sound to the island. This week alone the island has been shut for 4 days altogether - hard to believe it's August. Oh well, there's always next year...
When the weather has been forgiving enough to allow visitors to land on Ramsey, a high proportion of visitors are often already members making recruitment even more of a struggle at times. Nonetheless, guided walks around the reserve have proved to be quite successful in recruiting members. I've found that visitors become especially warm to the idea of joining the Society once they are told that the conservation work on the reserve will directly benefit from their membership. It's very rewarding when after taking a group on a guided walk around the reserve a member of that party tells you afterwards that they would like to join the RSPB. It certainly makes all our efforts worthwhile.
Highlight this month: the first grey seal pups born of the pupping season
Rebecca Pitman, People Engagement Officer, Ramsey Island