Learning about the land management that goes on behind the scenes during the winter months has given me new practical skills but has also broadened my outlook on nature and shown me how nature and being outdoors can have such a positive impact on my mental health. Getting out into nature and exploring the green spaces is a great way to spend time with friends and family that also helps us form a deeper connection and understanding of the world around us.

Throughout my six-month winter placement at Grow Wilder, I learnt many skills including how to coppice and process wood, working with volunteers in a team and how to put my theoretical knowledge into practice.

Being outside is a huge benefit of doing a placement with AWT but you do need to remember wellies and waterproofs as we go out in all weather. I love being out in a downpour, feeling the cold rain splashing your face when you are tightly bundled up in your waterproofs, makes you feel connected to this amazing natural world.

Taking action for nature is the best thing we can do to understand and help the natural wildlife of the UK. Personally, I compost whatever I can, recycle, cut down on my waste and give time to volunteer. Whatever it is you do, big or small, the important thing is to try and help out, it won’t be perfect, but it will help reach our goal to help to support nature and our wildlife. An easy way to get involved with nature at home is to establish a wild garden, planting wildflowers native to the UK which is amazing for pollinators such as bees and butterflies. You can also build bug hotels with broken garden canes, folded thick packaging and egg boxes.

As I study my degree in wildlife conservation, I am learning more about the practical side to conservation and have been applying it in my work at Grow Wilder.  Being able to take the knowledge I am gaining from my degree and apply it to this practical placement, discuss it and share it with likeminded people, is brilliant. The knowledge and experience that the staff and volunteers have at Grow Wilder is huge. Whenever there is conversation about wildlife conservation, I feel like should find a pencil and start scribbling notes, but I try to absorb it all so much so that my mental notebook is now bursting with information.

The community that Grow Wilder has created amazes me, there are so many volunteers, land partners, and staff who come from different backgrounds but all have this drive for kindness, community and of course the natural world. I’ve been welcomed into the wonderful world of Grow Wilder with such open arms and I am so grateful of this opportunity to help and learn about so many things I am so passionate about.

I can recommend this placement to anyone who might have two days a week to spare and has a keen interest in nature. Whether your fascination and passion for nature goes back years or it is a newfound interest, If you come with an open minded and are willing to learn, this placement will be for you. My time at Grow Wilder has been invaluable to my professional career goals, but also it has been an incredibly rewarding personal experience.