Intern (Education Volunteer Internship - Rainham Marshes)

**Help us to re-connect children with nature **

We are looking for an Education Volunteer Intern to share their passion for the natural world with school children who visit our inspiring nature reserve.

Following a period of training and shadowing our team, we’ll ask you to take the lead in delivering pre-prepared, hands-on, exciting sessions to visiting schools. Typical activities we’ll ask you to lead include minibeast hunting, pond dipping and bird watching.

The main things we need from you are good communication skills, a little confidence and bags of enthusiasm - you don’t necessarily need experience of working with children or any kind of specialist knowledge. A keen interest in wildlife, conservation and/or the environment, a willingness to work outdoors whatever the weather and the energy to be on-the-go all day

What’s in it for you: The opportunity to make a real difference enriching the lives of youngsters and inspiring them to care and learn more about the natural world with the RSPB. We can help give you the skills to kick start a career in environmental or community education. We are not looking for experts in conservation, or even people with lots of experience, if you are new to the sector, changing careers or looking for a new challenge, this could be for you. All training necessary will be provided and since you are giving up your time, it is only fair we offer to re-imburse your travel expenses (up to 25 miles max). You'll be part of a small friendly team of staff and volunteers

Your time

Minimum: 2-3 days per week (5+ hours per day) Duration: 5 months Period: March to July

Volunteering with us can fit around a part time job or family life as you can volunteer during school hours only if you wish.

Thank you for reading this role description. Clicking on ‘more about this role’ and the downloadable pdf will give you just the generic role profile for this opportunity. A role profile is the family to which an opportunity belongs and informs vetting and training requirements and may not be an exact fit to the role described above.’

We are looking for volunteer interns! From conservation to communications and ecology. Our internships help people gain the skills and experience needed to start a career in conservation. You will get to meet new people and help save nature too.

Interns bring in a variety of ideas, experiences and energy into our teams, it's so much more than just getting work done; we want to hear from you if you feel like you have the motivation and passion to save nature.

What you will be doing as a Volunteer Intern will depend on the specific internship, but generally your work will involve a variety of tasks. Internships are designed to support specific reserves or projects or functional teams, so the list is endless. Some internships have a practical focus which involve surveying and practical conservation and maintenance, some internships are focussed more on people engagement and advocating for nature conservation, whilst others are around communication and creativity. Whatever it is, you will have the opportunity to take on multiple pieces of work in order to give you a broad range of experiences and opportunities to learn.

The skills you'll need

The aim of our internships is to help build skills and to help people gain the experience necessary to help take steps towards a career, primarily in conservation. We are looking for individuals who are interested in saving nature and with the energy to learn. We are not looking for experts in conservation, or even people with lots of experience, if you are new to the sector, changing careers or looking for a new challenge, this could be for you.

Some desirable skills include:

• Basic IT skills
• Experience spending time outdoors in nature
• Communication skills
• Planning and organisational skills

This role is suited to someone looking to change their career, or someone who is just starting out. If you want to work in nature conservation, internships are volunteering opportunities that are created around your needs as much as the needs of the RSPB. You will have a say in your own development, you can work with your line manager to develop the skills you need. You will learn all about how environmental charities work to save nature and start to figure out what are of work is most suited to you.

You will be working as part of a wider team and will have the opportunity to work with lots of different people.