Volunteering
Our volunteer work parties typically have 10 - 15 people depending on the type of work and the location. The Membership and Volunteering Application form can be found here. Please note, you do not have to attend work parties or volunteer to become a member and you do not have to pay membership to volunteer.
Flitch Way Work Parties
Tuesday and Thursday |
Volunteers work alongside the Country Park Rangers to conserve the Flitch Way and other woodlands and country parks. We tackle a wide range of tasks including coppicing, pond regeneration, scrub and ditch clearance, collecting litter and other rubbish, hedge planting, installing benches and cutting back overgrown sections of the trail to keep the footpath clear and to regenerate areas for plants and other wildlife.
We meet at Rayne Village Hall at 9.15 for a 9.30 departure to wherever the day's work party is taking place and usually return to the station between 3.30 and 4.00pm. Volunteers living near to the days workplace can choose to meet us on site. Everybody intending to take part in a work party should contact the Volunteer Co-ordinator the day before the event to ensure there is sufficient work for the numbers wishing to attend. We welcome volunteers under the age of 18, and people with physical and mental impairments, provided they are accompanied by a responsible adult for safeguarding, health and safety reasons as machinery including chainsaws and brushcutters are in regular operation on work parties. Autumn and Winter are probably our busiest periods and work parties usually take place each Tuesday and Thursday during those times. Work parties may be reduced to one per week at other times of the year depending on the tasks required to be done. Contact Wendy Moss 01376 329 245. Read about Sue's volunteering experience. |
Footpath Work Group
Wednesday |
The Footpath Work Group, signed up to the Parish Paths Partnership (P3) with Essex County Council (ECC) in 2005. Initially work concentrated on improving all the Public Rights of Way (PROW) accessing the Flitch Way.
The Footpath Work Group has moved on over the years to now become one of the ECC roving P3 groups. A great deal of the work involves heavy clearance along footpaths that have become so overgrown that they cannot be used. Sometimes we install bridges, kissing gates, steps and install way marker posts to indicate where footpaths go. The group is made up of a team of up to 10 volunteers. We have all been trained for the tasks we are asked to carry out. Health and Safety is, as always, a very important part of our role. We never know where we are going from one week to the next, and that makes the work so much more interesting. We visit many places in Essex that we didn't know existed. Contact Peter Lane 01376 343 567 |
Railway Carriage Museum Stewards
Most days |
Volunteer stewards open the railway carriage at Rayne Station to welcome visitors and answer questions about our work for a few hours at a time. We try and open the carriage as many days as possible and especially at weekends and in the school holidays but this totally depends on having enough volunteer stewards on rota. Full training will be given and in return volunteers are asked to commit to at least 6 volunteering sessions as a steward with each session typically lasting 2 hours. Carriage steward volunteers must have a minimum age of 16 and all volunteers under 18, and people with physical and mental impairments, must be accompanied by a responsible adult for safeguarding reasons. Contact Pam Maskell 01376 329 939. |