Residents of Dumfries, Annan and the surrounding areas have spent nearly 2700 hours volunteering at WWT Caerlaverock Wetland Centre.
WWT Caerlaverock is a popular nature reserve on the Solway coast that has a group of over 25 volunteers. Some, like Mary Harper from Annan, have been volunteering for more than 6 years.
Over the years, Mary has been involved in a wide range of activities from welcoming visitors in the centre to supporting monitoring work by recording their bird sightings.
Their tasks include providing people with information on arrival at WWT Caerlaverock, helping them identify species and serving food and drinks in the visitor centre.
This is not the only way volunteers get involved at WWT Caerlaverock. Andy Matrundola works with the reserve team, a group of a dozen hardworking and committed volunteers, who are out, rain or shine, to manage the habitats on the reserve. From fence repairs to nest box surveys, there is a huge variety of activities that they get involved in while supporting the reserve wardens.
Mary Harper says: “It’s a great thing now I am retired, it gives a structure to my week and the team at Caerlaverock are just really friendly … and I enjoy coming and meeting up with them.”
Andy Matrundola says: “As a new person in Dumfries, this was the first place I came to and I feel really at home here and have really enjoyed my time. [WWT Caerlaverock is important] because of all the restoration work that is going on at this wonderful reserve that creates amazing habitats for amazing birds.”
Marianne Nicholson, Engagement Officer, says: “We have a small team of staff at WWT Caerlaverock and we simply could not function fully without the help our wonderful volunteers like Mary and Andy. Their support and dedication allow us to do so much more work than we could ever without them.”
Volunteering is a great way to support the charity, if you would like to find out more about volunteering opportunities at WWT Caerlaverock contact Rebekah Allison at [email protected] or phone 01387 770200.
