A Year of Volunteering at Denmark Farm

2016 has been a great year for all-things-volunteering at Denmark Farm.

With two funded projects, ‘Holistic Habitats’ and ‘Sowing Seeds, Sharing Skills’ (thanks to Volunteering in Wales fund and Awards for All) we have been able to achieve a huge amount. The projects have enabled us to recruit new volunteers, as well as supporting and developing our existing volunteers.

Our volunteers have taken part in a whole range of activities from wildlife gardening to boardwalk construction to butterfly surveys, and have helped to keep our site trails open and accessible for visitors.

The funding has also enabled us to develop a kitchen garden, and install a new greenhouse – something we have been wanting to do for some time. The element of hands-on training with a knowledgeable tutor (Malcolm Berry) has attracted a dedicated group of volunteers, and created a productive and attractive vegetable garden As well as providing a wonderful teaching environment, the garden will also demonstrate the process of food-growing, to hopefully show that anyone can do this in their own plots or gardens. 

We also hosted a visit in September from a group of Japanese volunteers, thanks to UNA Exchange in Cardiff. Not only did these motivated young volunteers clock up around 50 hours of volunteering at Denmark Farm, but they also spent three days visiting other local community environmental projects and carrying out conservation tasks for them. 

One of our volunteers, Portia, has clocked-up an impressive 300 hours of volunteering at Denmark Farm in this year. Portia was awarded our Volunteer of the Year at our recent Christmas lunch. “Congratulations, and a huge thank you for all your hard-work, Portia!”

If you’d like to try something new for 2017, volunteer sessions will continue to run fortnightly (on Saturdays) plus occasional Tuesdays from January.

Planned activities include willow coppicing and fruit tree pruning. Just drop us an email volunteer@denmarkfarm.org.uk and we can let you know upcoming dates. Or keep an eye on the website and pop along to one of the sessions. Don’t worry I you haven’t done anything like this before – Everyone is welcome. All tools and instruction are provided, and you’ll soon pick it up. Bring waterproofs and a packed lunch – we’ll provide tea and coffee.