Site Checks and Maintenance Volunteer (Site checks volunteer at Lough Foyle)

This role is about helping RSPB staff to maintain a presence at RSPB Lough Foyle, and offers a great opportunity to patrol the trails while enjoying the wildlife on offer. We are aiming to have volunteers out on the reserve every day of the week, and are looking for people who can be our eyes and ears on the ground. Lough Foyle is an estuary, and is the second largest area of intertidal habitat in Northern Ireland. The mudflats, salt marsh and sandflats provide a brilliant backdrop for birdwatching, hosting wintering and passage wildfowl and waders, plus Whooper swans and Peregrines.

Our nature reserves are very special places for people and wildlife. Right across the UK the RSPB manages woodlands and wetlands, heathlands and meadows. A real mosaic of different kinds of habitats for a wide range of wildlife and they are visited by a range of people out of hours. With this in mind, this role includes the following: • Talking to members of the public about the reserve and the wildlife they might see • Checking paths, benches and signage and reporting any issues • Litter picking • Reporting inappropriate behaviour • Reporting back to the site team.

Training and support will be provided but for this role the following are essential: • Excellent attention to detail.
• Good people skills, including diplomacy. • Problem solving skills and common sense.

You do not require any qualifications or experience in a similar role, though these are an advantage. We are flexible about the amount of time you can commit to this role.

You will enjoy doing your role in a beautiful wildlife rich setting, the great outdoors will be your place of work and you will be able to take it at your own pace. By talking to visitors as you go along, you'll have the pleasure of helping people learn more about the reserve and the work of the RSPB, or just be a familiar friendly face to our regulars. You will be making a genuine contribution to nature conservation. This role will involve some physical activity, so it will enable you to keep your fitness levels high.

For more information please take a look at our Volunteering FAQs (https://www.rspb.org.uk/helping-nature/volunteering/faqs)