Visitor Engagement Family and Children Events (Girlguiding Event Leader)

Do you enjoy working with children and young people and sharing your enjoyment of nature? As part of the RSPB’s partnership with Girlguiding Anglia, we are looking for an enthusiastic volunteer to run a wildlife discovery day for young Girlguiding members. This role is suitable for over 18s.

On Saturday 20th April 2024 we are planning to invite around 50 young Girlguiding members and their adult leaders to take part in an event at RSPB The Lodge reserve. We are looking for a volunteer to plan and facilitate a range of nature-themed activities, and to share their enthusiasm and knowledge with the young people. This is a great opportunity to help young people access their local RSPB reserve, to deepen their connection with nature, and to encourage them to look after nature for the future. The children involved could be between four and eighteen years old, but it is most likely that they will be aged 5 – 10 years.

As the Girlguiding Event Leader your role will include:

• To plan and run a ‘Wildlife Discovery Day’ event for up to 50 young Girlguiding members and their leaders on Saturday 20th April 2024 at RSPB The Lodge reserve.
• To work with RSPB colleagues to plan age appropriate activities for the day, making use of RSPB resources. For example, activities such as minibeast hunting, nature trails and nature art.
• To undertake at least one site visit with the RSPB reserve team to work out and agree the event plan.
• To assist with producing an event risk assessment and joining instructions, using RSPB Girlguiding templates.
• To assist with volunteer recruitment and to coordinate two to three volunteers to help you in running the event.

Full training and support will be provided for this role but we do ask for the following skills and experience:

• Good organisational skills;
• Good interpersonal and communication skills
• Working knowledge of health and safety and safeguarding issues relating to children and young people
• Experience of planning and running outdoor nature activities with groups of children and young people.
• Good knowledge of nature and habitats.
• Confident using basic Microsoft Office applications, including Word and Outlook.

This role offers an exciting opportunity to make use of your skills and experience to inspire the next generation of nature champions.

Not only this but it’s a chance to develop your skills and experience further, for example you will get the opportunity to learn more about the work of two large organisations: the RSPB and Girlguiding - and we’d be there to aid your development every step of the way!

You will be part of RSPB’s England Education, Families and Youth Team and you will be supported in your role by the RSPB’s Youth Partnerships Officer. An induction will be provided as well as relevant training, and we will offer ongoing support to enable you to further develop the skills you need for this role.

Based in or near Bedfordshire, you'll be working flexibly from home, but you must be able to travel to RSPB The Lodge reserve (Gatehouse The Lodge, Sandy, Central Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL) for a site visit and for the event itself on 20th April. The time commitment is approximately 30 hours (5 days) in total which can be flexible around your existing commitments, and you will need to have access to a computer with internet. We would ask you to commit to the role by 31st December 2023, but you wouldn't need to start until January/February 2024.

If you're interested but are not sure if you have the right experience, or you have questions about the role, do get in touch!