This week we are going mad for the new Minsmere visitor Centre.... I caught up with Louise Gregory, Volunteer Development Officer at Minsmere to find out more......
Hi Louise, I hear that a lot has been happening at Minsmere...
We’ve been very busy over the last 6-months, having just completed a multimillion-pound redevelopment of the visitor centre with a much-needed extension of our reception and café. We have created of a new Discovery Centre, Wild Zone and Wild Wood Adventure for everyone to enjoy no matter what your age. I took my mum and dad around the Wild Zone last weekend; they had a great time playing with all the activities in the Wild Zone, we even heard a real nightingale singing behind the Discovery Centre. We went to the willow river watch hide in the Wild Wood Adventure and found a great tit nest next to the hide. Since opening the new facilities, we have been very busy. We need more volunteers; to help talk visitors, identify wildlife, and give advice on binoculars, clear tables, answer the telephone...the tasks on a busy reserve are endless.
You are a big reserve – how many volunteers have you currently got?
We have over one hundred volunteers at Minsmere who all do a fantastic job, but we need more! Our youngest volunteer is 14 years old and our oldest is 91 years old: all help to deliver wildlife conservation in very different ways, from café assistants to guided walk leaders, bittern surveyors to Wildlife Explorer leaders.
How will the new roles help you?
It’s the reserve’s 65th birthday this year, and with all the new facilities it’s a great time to come and explore. We are always trying to deliver the best experience to our visitors, it might be talking to a visitor out on the trails, pointing out a family of tree creepers or taking a scrummy plate of food to a visitor seated in the cafe, it all forms part of a grand day out.
Things have been manic for you recently then!
We have all been crazily busy and worked so hard over the last few months. The new buildings look fantastic with old and new blending seamlessly. The new Wild Zone and Wild Wood Adventure are such fun. My favourite part is the bit you don’t even see, the visitor centre roof has cool solar panels that heat the tap water and produce electricity, and underground the are huge water tanks that collect all the rain and recycles it for use in the toilets.
We couldn’t have done any of it without the help and support of our Minsmere volunteer team, who turned their hand to any job, our regular visitors were amazed at how quickly we moved back into the new buildings.
Thanks Louise, good luck with the 65th birthday events this year – you certainly have the venue to celebrate it now!
This week I’ve been busy counting. Counting volunteers, counting down days, and counting raindrops.
Another thing I’m counting quickly at the moment is the seconds spent in the shower. Now that the infamous drought it upon us, folks in the south of England have been advised by water companies to limit ourselves to only 4 minutes of shampooing and conditioning.
I think that 2 RSPB buckets could easily help me count by being transformed into a stylish makeshift hourglass timer. Depending of the size of the hole and amount of sand in your buckets you can use it to either count down the seconds you have left in the shower, or the hours left until Love Nature Week begins.
Ironically, of course, we could have a much longer shower if we just stood out in the back garden. Some of the heavy rain we’ve had recently is most definitely more of a ‘power shower’ than my feeble drip that I have in my bathroom. Although the neighbours might be a little shocked to see me scrubbing away with loafer and soap in the garden.
Meanwhile, the volunteer count for Love Nature Week now stands at just over 400 – with many more to find to reach 700 volunteers! With just over 2 weeks to go there is still time for you to sign up for a collection but you’ll have to be quick. To find out more and to sign up, please visit our webpage www.rspb.org.uk/bucketcollections
2012 is the RSPB’s ‘Year of the Bucket’. In honour of the RSPB’s Big Yellow Fundraising Buckets, I’m writing a list of 101 Things to Do with a Bucket and I want your suggestions. Share them by posting a comment or Twittter #101buckets . Tweet me directly @RSPBMidlands
The May Bank Holiday is on the horizon. That can only mean one thing – awful British weather!
When I booked my cycling-camping adventure several weeks ago the weather forecast wasn’t predicting frost and flooding. You know how it is - a five minute burst of sun in March and you've booked yourself the perfect riverside campsite for May. On a lazy bank holiday Monday, you dream of pulling out a bucket BBQ for a few sizzling sausages in the sunshine. But instead, the looming dark clouds sugges that a couple of big yellow buckets, a bit of rope, a few crates and a paddle would serve me better this weekend. Given the forecast, it looks like I shall need to strap together a makeshift raft…
Alternatively, if I was Owl or Pussy Cat sized then the same bucket could make a handy boat without the need for further construction. Or pea-green pain.
Either craft would help me get a little close to the wonderful waterlife we've got in this part of the world. Watching grebes is one of my all-time favourite riverside activities. But if you find yourself stuck at home this weekend looking for things to do then why not consider volunteering for the RSPB’s Love Nature Week. We are looking for a couple of hundred more people to take part in our forthcoming Love Nature Week collections. Doubtless by the time Love Nature Week kicks off on Saturday 26 May the sun will have come out and we can turn our life rafts and owl boats back into fundraising buckets.
Love Nature Week is the RSPB’s biggest annual fundraising event. This year is takes place from 26 May to 3 June. Find out more here: www.rspb.org.uk/bucketcollections
And whatever you do this wet weekend – I hope you enjoy yourself.
In honour of the RSPB’s Big Yellow Fundraising Buckets, I’m writing a list of 101 Things to Do with a Bucket and I want your suggestions. Share them by posting a comment or Twittter #101buckets . Tweet me directly @RSPBMidlands
Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (aka Will and Kate) who are celebrating their first wedding anniversary today. Since we have the word “Royal” in our name then it is only fitting that the RSPB pays tribute to the happy occasion.
What better than offering them a special edition union jack collecting bucket – upturned for to make a stunning Royal wedding cake stand:
We emailed the Duke and Duchess last week to ask if they might possibly be able to take part in a Love Nature Week collection. (We're eagerly waiting to hear back!) You too could sign up for your local fundraising collection. Find out more here: www.rspb.org.uk/bucketcollections
In honour of the RSPB’s “Year of the Bucket”, I’m writing a list of 101 Things to Do with a Bucket and I want your suggestions. Got an idea for what to do with a bucket? Post a comment or tweet #101buckets @RSPBMidlands
Love Nature Week is on the horizon - the fundraising event is only one month away! Volunteers could find themselves as a tiger, monkey or even a bumblebee...
Yesterday morning an exciting package arrived at the RSPB’s Midlands office in Banbury. It contained two furry new costumes – a tiger and a monkey. Staff (being nature lovers) couldn’t help but try it on…
These costumes are for the forthcoming Love Nature Week bucket collections and also, more topically, the Together for Trees collection in September. Together for Trees is all about raising money for the rainforest – hence monkey and tiger.
Now, if you are one of the 300 volunteers who’s already signed up for a collection the you might also be thinking about costumes. With the addition of an extra RSPB bucket you could add a hump to a pantomime horse to make a pantomime camel. Although camels aren’t exactly the first species that springs to mind when thinking of the RSPB’s conservation work…
Anyone reading the news this week will know that there’s currently a project underway to bring short-haired bumblebees back to the UK. So we reckon that any young kids could don a homemade bumblebee costume for Love Nature Week. It can be carefully crafted from a couple of spare collecting buckets.
What do you think?
If you haven’t already signed up for Love Nature Week – do it now! Love Nature Week is the RSPB’s biggest annual fundraising event. This year is takes place from 26 May to 3 June. Find out more here: www.rspb.org.uk/bucketcollections