Community Volunteer (Farnham Web Cam Care Home Volunteer)

Description

Wildlife is wonderful to watch wherever you are. It is beautiful, inspiring, touching, calming and will always bring a smile. Not everyone can explore the wildlife spectacles we have on our reserves, but we want to change this with your help.

We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to visit two local care homes to talk with residents about the beautiful nature of Farnham Heath Reserve. This is part of an innovative project that will see footage streamed from a new webcam being installed in Farnham Heath Nature Reserve into care homes helping residents to feel closer to nature.

There is an ever-increasing body of evidence demonstrating direct links between exposure to nature and improved wellbeing and the RSPB would like to see people who are living in care homes and unable to visit their local reserve, to still benefit from experiencing the wonderful natural environment and wildlife of the reserve.

You may have someone close to you in a care home and so you will be able to appreciate how positive such a project can be.

The role

We are looking for volunteers who would like to share their love and knowledge of nature with the residents of two local care homes as part of a trial being run to see whether this will help people see an improvement to their wellbeing, mood and social interaction by feeling more connected to nature. The learning from the trial will be shared across the RSPB and if successful will be expanded to other care homes in Surrey and elsewhere.

You can make this trial your own by working with the care homes, Farnham Heath and the resources we provide to explore ways to share your interest with the residents, from telling your wildlife stories to simply sitting down with a cuppa and exploring the webcam footage. It is up to you how you bring a bit of Farnham Heath indoors and add some wildlife wonder to their day. There is great flexibility over the time commitment too. How and when is up to you.

What’s in it for you?

• This is an exciting opportunity to share your passion for, and knowledge of, nature to improve the lives of others.
• You’ll be involved in an innovative project having access to RSPB resources and helping to develop new materials. What you help to achieve here can have a far reaching impact on care homes and other wellbeing projects across the country.
• You’ll be able to develop your own understanding of the links between nature and wellbeing by working with a range of RSPB staff with support and advice always on hand. It also provides an opportunity to get to know other members of your community, including people who are living with dementia.
• You will receive a full induction to the project and will receive guidance and training to ensure you feel confident on going into the care homes
• You’ll be able to build close links with Farnham nature reserve, have opportunities to build your knowledge through visits and walks with the reserve team, and the team will keep you updated with the latest reserve and wildlife news.

We’re looking for someone who:

• Has good knowledge of nature and wildlife, and can speak confidently, clearly and patiently to people who may have little or no knowledge
• Has a passion for talking to people, the ability to enthuse and a desire to improve the lives of others
• Is sensitive towards the needs of people who may be living with challenging health conditions

If you would like to share your love and knowledge of the nature in your local area to improve the lives of people living in care homes, then we would love to hear from you.

Please note that the information below relates to a general community volunteer role and is not relevant to this nature and wellbeing specific role