I work with the Public Affairs Team in the RSPB’s South East Regional Office in Brighton.

It’s a very varied role, as Public Affairs covers everything from Media and Communication to Volunteering and Education.

For instance, with the Media Team, I look for newspaper or internet stories that have picked up on our press releases or quoted our staff or volunteers. This is a good way of knowing that the RSPB’s messages are reaching as many people as possible throughout the region. We also keep a  record  of stories that mention the RSPB where we haven’t been directly involved. We’re a high-profile organisation and it’s a measure of our success that media organisations are keen to feature us in conservation stories. We now have a very successful social media presence, so if you’re on Facebook you can find us at RSPBSouthEast   or you can follow us on Twitter  @RSPB_SouthEast

I also help the Volunteering Department on matters concerning the 2,000 or more volunteers we have in the South East region. I’m particularly involved with the RSPB Local Groups who act as the RSPB’s representation in the community and who organise talks, walks and events for their members and the general public. If you haven’t already joined your Local Group, I’d strongly advise it!

I help organise our annual thank-you events for volunteers which are always amazingly popular. This year’s guided tour of Wakehurst Place for RSPB volunteers was in such demand, it was fully booked within three days!

I’m currently looking for volunteers to help distribute survey forms for the Big Garden Birdwatch and other RSPB events – have a look at the advert here I hope you can help!

The other part of Public Affairs is Education, and I support our Education Officer mainly regarding the Wildlife Explorers groups throughout the South East. These are groups for young people under 18 (the group for teenagers is called RSPB Phoenix). I help advertise events for the groups and very occasionally I help out in person. For instance, last week I led a bat walk for the Brighton Wildlife Explorers. 32 parents and children turned up, along with a good number of bats, making for a very successful event.

And finally, part of my work is to answer the phone calls from the public to the office. We get all sorts of enquiries, from wildlife identification to questions about events at our Reserves. So if you’ve got a question, let me know and I’ll see if I can help! 01273 763618