DEFRA Group Work Party (DEFRA Group Corporate Volunteering)

We are excited to Welcome DEFRA colleagues to Rainham Marshes.

Join us for a day cutting and clearing vegetation, creating, and maintaining visitor infrastructure such as paths and benches and litter picking on the foreshore of the Thames. This helps to maintain healthy habitats and protects the species that live there, while at the same time enhancing the visitor experience to the reserve.

Not far from the bustling streets of London, Rainham Marshes is a haven for all kinds of wildlife – birds, Water Voles, Dragonflies and more. Rainham Marshes is carefully managed to make sure it has the perfect conditions for its wildlife. We graze cattle and manage water levels to create a patchwork of clumpy wet grassland and semi-permanent pools. This is the ideal habitat for marshland birds such as Lapwings and Redshanks as well as for wintering wildfowl, waders and some birds of prey. The ditches are also looked after to help Water Voles, reptiles, amphibians and minibeasts thrive.

We are looking for volunteers to join us here at Rainham Marshes. RSPB nature reserves are special places for people and wildlife, and we rely on volunteers to keep these habitats thriving and in good shape.

It might seem like these wild places have always just been there. But quite often we have to work really hard to maintain habitats to be in the best condition for wildlife. We have lost a lot of wild landscapes, so the small places that we do have, need a bit of extra care.

As a Volunteer you will be undertaking practical habitat management tasks:

• Cutting and clearing vegetation.
• Creating and maintaining visitor infrastructure, such as paths and benches.
• Litter picking beside the Thames.
• Following annual work plans.
• Following Health and Safety protocols.

If you enjoy being outdoors, meeting new people and hands on conservation work, then this Volunteer role could be the perfect opportunity for you. This role does involve a reasonable amount of physical activity, so will enable you to keep your fitness levels high, as well as helping your mental health and wellbeing. You will have the satisfaction of knowing that you are making a genuine contribution to nature conservation, and you might find it rewarding to safeguard nature in the area you are working to protect.

We are a friendly and supportive team. If you are volunteering to learn new skills and gain knowledge about wildlife conservation work, you will find that our team will be more than happy to help you on that journey.

A typical Volunteering Day would entail, arrival at 9.00am, a full briefing and introduction, conservation tasks through to lunchtime with suitable breaks, a tour of the site in the afternoon, and close at 3.30pm.

We have a large carpark as well as transport links to nearby Purfleet station a 15 min walk to the reserve.

We have a visitor centre with Toilet facilities but no food or drink offering so lunch and snacks will need to be brought with you on the day.
Please wear suitable clothing for the weather and sturdy shoes or walking boots as the terrain can be uneven.