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Make Space For Nature
Make Space For Nature
Transforming lives and landscapes through nature volunteering
Curious about how volunteering can change lives and communities? This episode reveals the incredible work of Volunteering Matters, as we celebrate 40 years of Volunteers' Week.
Robert Henderson joins us to spotlight the Volunteering Matters Action Earth
project, which has empowered over 100,000 volunteers through more than 3,100 environmental initiatives across Scotland. From the Shettleston Community Growing Project in Glasgow to Bridgend Farmhouse in Edinburgh, discover how volunteer efforts have transformed these into vibrant community hubs.
Hear about innovative initiatives, such as the Cassiltoun Housing Association's 'feel good verandas', and learn why it's vital to step outside your comfort zone. We'll also discuss the importance of recognising volunteer contributions and the inspirational achievements that managed to gain international media attention.
Robert shares powerful insights into the unexpected benefits of nature volunteering, including improved physical health, mental well-being, and the formation of cross-generational friendships.
Joe Knowles, a dedicated Action Earth volunteer, recounts his journey from retirement to becoming an active community member through creative projects like building a Noah garden and bug hotels. Let Joe's passion and commitment inspire you to contribute to the preservation of Scotland's natural beauty and discover how you can make a difference in your own community.
Volunteering Matters - Action Earth
Action Earth Ideas and Links
Volunteering Matters Scotland
Volunteer in the outdoors
Volunteering with NatureScot
Hi and welcome to Make Space for Nature from NatureScot, the podcast that celebrates Scotland's nature, landscapes and species. I'm Kirsten Guthrie and in each episode we'll help you learn more about an amazing natural world. In this episode, fiona Leith and I chat to Robert Henderson about his work as an engagement manager for Volunteering Matters, a driving force for good when it comes to local community-driven opportunities and benefits. Then we catch up with Jo Knowles, who has volunteered with Action Earth for 14 years. So hi, robert, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for joining us. Today, as we're celebrating 40 years of Volunteers Week, could you explain to our listeners what Volunteering Matters is and how it helps make a difference to people and places at a local level, please?
Speaker 2:Well, Volunteering Matters is a UK charity that basically makes change happen, so we work with volunteers and partners to try and transform lives and communities. Volunteering Matters has been around for about 60 years. We were founded by Alec and Maura Dixon, who had set up voluntary service overseas and that was more for doctors and teachers and professionals and they wanted to set up something that basically offered volunteering opportunities for everyone. So they created CSV, which was Community Service Volunteers, and through that 60-year period we've evolved a wide range of programmes that support hundreds of thousands of volunteers since I actually started, and we changed our name to Volunteering Matters in about 2015 because we thought that better reflected what we do, Because what we're about is about listening to groups, identifying needs and working with them to create opportunities, working with them to create opportunities and you know that covers everyone, from care-experienced young people to mentoring people that are maybe facing life barriers, older people facing isolation, and you know many, many more. And the project that I run is called Action Earth. It's Volunteering Matters Action Earth and it's been running in Scotland for 21 years and we've worked in partnership with NatureScot, who funded us for that period, and what we do is engage and support volunteers with small grants and advice to help them contribute to environmental action. So since 2004, for example, there have been over 100,000 volunteers working on 3,100 projects. Working on the 3,100 projects and the sort of things that they've done has been creating and maintaining ponds, wildflower meadows, community gardens, local woods, and people have installed bird bat and insect boxes using those small grants. It's a great project.
Speaker 2:We're very keen on urban projects and projects involving people that are facing barriers. Half our grants actually go to projects in the lowest 20% of the Index of Multiple Deprivation and 25% of our volunteers last year had disabilities or defined health issues. So that's a great demonstration of the inclusive nature of the projects that we have. And we have our own volunteer as well, of course, Joe Knowles, and he's been with me for 14 years and he is involved at every level and at every stage of our work. And you know the campaign just wouldn't be the same without Joe. He's got amazing people skills, he's got a problem-solving personality and he's very much appreciated. We always say that he's not just a gem, he's got a problem-solving personality and he's very much appreciated. We always say that he's not just a gem, he's a national treasure.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's lovely. You know, he certainly is a national treasure and we were very fortunate to meet Joe, so we'll hear from him later in the podcast.
Speaker 3:That's lovely to hear those examples, robert, and I've done it myself and volunteered at a community garden and orchard and it really no word of a lie changed my life and the place that we nurtured was changed through us. You must have also seen some great examples of projects across Scotland where volunteering has created great change and maybe inspired you and stuck with you. Can you share any of those?
Speaker 2:Yes, Well, volunteering Matters, action Earth campaigns have been running over 21 years across all local authority regions in Scotland and the sheer diversity of volunteers, groups, activities has been absolutely amazing. People that take part in the campaign understand that everything adds up and so it's almost like no matter how big or small the projects are, it's a positive change that they're making and all of those positive changes add up to tackle the climate and nature crisis. And we've seen these. You know incredibly wide range of volunteers applying for our grants, and some of the people who are applying now were children on old projects 20 years ago and they're now running some of the local groups. So it shows getting in early really does have an impact, and we've got lots of stories about similar young people finding their feet on green projects and then they go on to get qualifications and have then gone on to work in the environmental sector. So that's great news for us, and groups working with people who have disabilities always tell us the impact's brilliant for those groups as well, because people see the immediate benefits of getting your hands in the soil planting, making boxes and planters. There's something at the end of the day where they can see that they've actually made a difference and a couple of examples.
Speaker 2:One of them, the Shettleston Community Growing Project in Glasgow, has been with us from the start and we've had an amazing relationship with them. They started as a raised bed project on the grounds of a former industrial estate and they had large areas of poisoned ground and they were in an area of multiple deprivation. But through the efforts of the volunteers in that local community it's expanded to become an absolute thriving hub and it's a place where people go to learn and train. It's got amazing resources. It's got a kids' group called the Smelly Welly Club which starts people off in different age groups and it's almost like a school. It takes them through the groups of years and lots of them then come back as adults to be volunteers.
Speaker 2:And we've got a similar project in Edinburgh which is Bridgend End Farmhouse, which we were there at the start of that. It was basically a derelict farmhouse and it's been transformed into an area of outstanding beauty. It's got a cafe, they're on workshops on environmental living, on bike repairs, and we gave them one of their first grants and I was actually holding up the plans for the renovation when we had our launch event there. So it was so exciting to be involved right at the start and when you go in there now it's just this amazing central community place for volunteers to go, and I suppose another exciting thing is when volunteers are actually inspired by their own work and they want to share that widely.
Speaker 2:We've got volunteers at Batswood in Fife and they had experienced years of vandalism by deer and humans when they were trying to plant new trees. So basically the trees were being nibbled or knocked down and they decided that they were going to plant this dense protective willow fedge and a fedge is a combination of fence and hedge and they put that around the trees and they had outstanding results. There was hardly any tree loss at all and they were really keen to share that experience as widely as possible and we helped them to do that through press releases and putting it on our social media.
Speaker 3:Some great examples Zaid of what's a really reciprocal relationship. When you volunteer the outdoors and does want to help their local environment, how would you suggest they would best go about finding what's available to them? It can be a bit like your first date you might know what you want, but how would someone be sure where to find it?
Speaker 2:well, I think it is like you have to kiss a lot of frogs sometimes. I would say what to do. Contact us first. Every year we have about 135 different projects across Scotland and we've also got you know, experience and historic knowledge of all those projects as well. So we're a good first point, I would say. We've also got a links and ideas page on the Action Earth website, so have a wee look and see if that would help.
Speaker 2:But we would also say that NatureScotts own website has very good examples of where you can go for volunteering opportunities and I think we would always promote the network of volunteer centres across Scotland because their local knowledge is absolutely immense and they can also help you with project finders.
Speaker 2:They can also help you with matching to funders that might be available and everything, and they can also give you advice if you want to set an organisation up from scratch. Give you advice if you want to set an organisation up from scratch. So most areas have a volunteer centre that's within sort of, you know, 30 to 50 mile radius, but they've got very good online sort of presences as well. But also look for groups who are having open days and tester days. If you want to, you know, allow yourself to a local group and it happens a lot, especially over summer, and it happens more lot especially over summer, and it happens more than you might think. So do check things like facebook and twitter and see if there's a sociable setting somewhere that's doing something like this, because it's a very good way to meet members of a group, discuss what they're up to and see if you think that's a good fit for you.
Speaker 1:Oh, great Thanks, Robert. That's a great list of links there. I'll make sure they're added to the podcast notes. And you know, just thinking about the volunteering opportunities, they can vary so much and I imagine you know people might their first thought might be oh, I have to match my existing skills or interests with projects. But actually learning new skills out with your comfort zone, I mean that's also a great thing to do too.
Speaker 2:Comfort zone, I mean that's also a great thing to do too. Well, it's great when you can match your skills and interests to environmental activities that are out there. If you can find the right group for you, it's a great opportunity to bring your own ideas to the mix, and I'm thinking in particular about Castleton Housing Association, and a volunteer came to them a couple of years ago saying that they wanted to brighten up all the verandas in their block, and so they liaised with them. They created this feel good verandas project and they basically got as many people in the block to create a green space, you know, like through pots, planters. But because the whole veranda, the whole block, had something on the veranda, it transformed it into a very green space, and that was a terrific result, which just started from an individual volunteer coming to an organization that could help her make that happen.
Speaker 2:So there's lots of projects like that where you can get involved in partnership work. Things like men's sheds quite often can provide woodworking skills if your project wants to create habitats for birds and bats, but you're not sure how to build the boxes from a plank of wood. So that's great. But sometimes the match isn't. The match sometimes just isn't there and you have to be prepared to do work that's maybe not quite you what you initially imagined, but which is ultimately still good for the environment. You know there's that awareness that you have to have. The activities need to take place throughout the entire year and they'll be very varied. Sometimes they'll be very pleasant in the sun and sometimes they might involve some harder manual labor in colder weather. So we would encourage people to think about doing things that may be a wee bit outside their comfort zone, because those are just as important, but to do what you're capable of and comfortable with, but also make sure other members of your team know what limits you might actually face yourself.
Speaker 1:No, that's a really important point actually, and you know we do a bit of volunteering through NatureScot as well on our nature reserves, and certainly tree planting was all new to me, but it was a, it was good experience, and I did. Certainly muscles were used that hadn't been used for a long time, so so that was that was a great experience for myself and and you know, talking of our, our national nature reserves, at NatureScot there's so many groups of volunteers that really help on each of the reserves that we have and they bring so much passion and knowledge to protecting Scotland's nature, which we're so proud of. Do you think volunteers always get the recognition they deserve, or does their work often go unnoticed in communities?
Speaker 2:I don't know if I would say it goes unnoticed, but there should be more recognition and what we say to groups is that they're the people who need to blow their own trumpets. And in Scotland we tend to be very modest about our achievements and you know we don't like to be seen to be bragging. But we need volunteers to celebrate what they're doing because it is amazing. You can't blame people for not knowing what you've done if you haven't actually told anyone about it. So Action Earth, when we have approved projects, we give people a press release template, a list of press contacts. We advise people on social media use and if you've ever looked at our posts, we tweet and post every single week about all the amazing stuff we're getting in from people. But sometimes we're talking it up in a way that the projects are very modest about.
Speaker 2:We once got international media attention for a Fragatelle launch at the Scottish Association for Mental Health's Edinburgh office. We were on the Chris Evans radio show. We were on National Public Radio in America, we were on CBC Radio 1 in Canada and most UK papers covered the story and the volunteers at Red Hall were absolutely delighted to have their work mentioned in this international context because it was a real validation of their work and it was very difficult for us because it was a real test of our pun abilities, once we'd covered bellhops and croak rooms and as many frog-related puns as we could. So I would say environmental volunteering it's definitely got a visual impact, you know, and you can't deny that. So we obviously take before and after photos, send them to anyone in your community that you think you'd be interested. That could help you, whether that's press, politicians, local businesses or your funders, and that's where the recognition will come.
Speaker 3:That's really good advice for any groups listening in or anyone looking to join a group, robert, quite soon, and they can bring that insight with them. As Kirsten says, and you've said yourself, nature volunteering. It can have a huge impact on the landscape and species that we at NatureScot are working to protect and restore. If someone had never volunteered before, how, how might you, with all your experience and and all the people and projects you've been involved with over the years, how might you define the positive impact it can bring to an individual in that sort of mutual reward that we've spoken about for the person and the project?
Speaker 2:Well, I think my experience is that people are often surprised at what they get from their volunteering experience, because a lot of people go into it thinking that they're giving something and I don't think a lot of people always expect to get something back from that. You know, and it's people are volunteering for the desire to do something positive, but actually there's a lot of personal benefits. I mean, you've got the health aspect being outdoors in all weather you're carrying out this practical work, so that's a manageable physical exercise that you're getting. You've also got the friendship side, because you're tending to work usually in a cross-generational group, and that also helps with skill sharing, which goes both ways. You know, older people might have more experience of particular plants and stuff, whereas young people might have more experience on how to market things through social media. So you've got sets of skills that complement a project overall and I think what all adds up to is like a vast improvement in well-being and mental health for participants, because you feel connected, you feel good about yourself, you feel good about your community, and it's not just a connection to nature. I think it really. It really does just a connection to nature. I think it really does create a connection to local areas for people and lots of people have said this that they have more of a sense of ownership about the community after working on Action Earth projects. So you know that's a terrific benefit.
Speaker 2:Other things you know there's very unexpected things. When I was actually at the Shettleston Community Growing Project, somebody said it helped a lot of people with fuel poverty because a lot of older people were meeting friends who they would then go to friends' houses. So it meant that only one person was having the heating on and making cups of tea for five or six people and then the next week they'd be at another house. So that's very much an unexpected benefit, you know, for both participants and then the next week they'd be at another house. So that's very much an unexpected benefit, you know, for both participants and for the environment really.
Speaker 1:That is so true. You've summed it up nicely. Thanks, robert, and thank you so much for joining us today. Volunteering is clearly a great way to fight nature loss and climate change, as well as bringing so many benefits to individuals too. So we're now heading outdoors, to a small village in Perthshire to meet with one of Action Earth's inspirational volunteers, joe Knowles, about what volunteering means to him.
Speaker 3:Well, joe, it's lovely to meet you today. We know you're a busy man, so thanks for sparing the time to talk to us. Could you just tell us what you're busy volunteering with this week?
Speaker 4:One is very relevant to Action Earth and that is that, well, probably about seven or eight years ago now, our church applied for an Action Earth grant and we were very successful, and what we did was we created a Noah garden and we had an ark, and we had the kids in the school paint stones with animals on them, a pair of each, of course, and they were arranged as if they were coming out of the ark into this rainbow of flowers that we had. For the last while me and another person have been taking it apart, rebuilding it, and we finally put it back up and incorporated it in the ark. The bottom is supposed to be a hedgehog house, but I don't think we've ever had a hedgehog in it, and and we have a lady in our congregation who has a hedgehog sanctuary uh, up in creef and uh, and she said, no, you'll never get a hedgehog to live in there it's a nice big, spacious accommodation.
Speaker 4:You can get a big family of hedgehogs. So, having done all the work, uh, the one thing that hadn't been put back were the the bug hotels. So I made them rather differently, because every time the ark fell over, all the sticks fell out. So I've put them into a, into a mesh now and and they're kind of, you're going to be stuck in there. When it was put all together again realized I didn't have enough sticks so I'll have to find some of those. Anyway, that was what I was doing. That's one thing I was doing in the church yesterday.
Speaker 3:Well, you strike me as a very creative and resourceful man. Maybe, yes, could you tell us a little bit about what sort of motivated you in the first place? But also, 14 years on, what continues to motivate you to volunteer?
Speaker 4:Well, how did it start? I retired in 2010 and my wife always said because there's a bit of a workaholic, what are you going to do? I think she didn't want to be underneath her feet all day I said don't worry, I'll find things to do.
Speaker 4:Uh, so we were fortunate that I was a director of a company and when I retired I was able to sell some shares and we had some money. So we bought a flat in Edinburgh. The idea was we'd go to concerts and enjoy the festival and all these kind of things, and we did that for a while. But I thought, well, I'm spending two days a week in Edinburgh. I really should try and do something during the day, that's not just going and looking at museums and things. So I thought, well, volunteering's a good idea.
Speaker 4:And the very first thing I looked at was oh, it was CSV at the time looking for a volunteer, and the thing that attracted me was that it was to do with environment. And the reason for that is that most of my career as an engineer was involved in energy efficiency, whether it was trying to improve the energy efficiency of some of the equipment on big power stations and nuclear power stations. At the end, the company that I worked for laterally for 15 years, we were mainly in sustainable and renewable energy and clearly I wanted to carry on doing something to try and save the planet. And actually the Earth just sounded right and Robert and I just hit off right away, so there was no problem with that. We just said right, let's just get on with it.
Speaker 3:So NatureScot provides Action Earth grant funding to help urban communities to respond to the nature climate crisis, and these grants support volunteers of all ages, all backgrounds and abilities. Outdoors in Scotland's cities or towns, villages, you'll have witnessed the effect of the Action Earth funding and the projects that it's supported. Could you tell us a little bit about what changes, improvements you have seen come through that grant funding and improvements to nature?
Speaker 4:Yes, well, we do visit projects as and when we can, but with 100. Well, I think our maximum was just under 200 projects and we are now running at about 140, 150 a year. You can't see them all, but I must admit that any time I'm going through somewhere new and think, oh, there's a project here, I'll go and have a look, and we do that. But yes, just to see that with a relatively small amount of money we can make an enormous difference. We're not making the difference. It's the volunteers that are making the difference. Our peak number of volunteers was over 8,000.
Speaker 3:Wow, that's incredibly impressive.
Speaker 4:That's with £50,000 in funding in those days. We're now down to less than that in funding about two-thirds of that but we still get volunteers. Covid hit badly but even during the COVID years we were getting 3,000 and it's crept up now to over 4,000 the last couple of years. I don't think we'll ever get, unless we get more money, I don't think we'll ever get back to the heady days of eight and a half thousand people. So I think just having all those people and what, what I see is all the statistics, because I create them or collate them, and I think I've estimated that if you took the volunteering hours because we ask them how long they spend on the project, if you took all the volunteering hours together in those 14 years, we have done enough. Our volunteers have done enough work that if it were paid for it it would cost SAH or NatureScot something in the order of £13 million.
Speaker 3:That's value isn't it. And people are offering their time, joe, and those working hours when they volunteer. Volunteering is a job of work, but what else are people bringing to volunteering? You know they're bringing their life experience. They're coming to volunteering, often on a social level, into communities. Can you talk a little bit for us about the sort of value for people when they sign up for volunteering?
Speaker 4:I think the biggest value is just getting together. I know that when I'm involved with groups, you've got to have fun when you're doing it, and Robert and I have visited many groups over the years. So, yeah, I think it's just seeing all these people no doubt enjoying the volunteering they're doing.
Speaker 3:There's a sense of camaraderie in it. Often, isn't it? If you join a group, you're more than the sum of your own parts.
Speaker 4:Robert talks to more than I do. When we were in the office together, we'd often share telephone calls. He rarely he does ask me to talk to people, but it's not the thing I do as an everyday thing just now, but every time I've spoken to anybody they are full of praise for the Action Earth project and all I can say is long may it continue.
Speaker 3:Well, it's great to hear of everything that you you've offered from your own experience and your own skills, and to hear about what others offer. If someone was wanting to get involved with Action Earth and volunteer themselves, if they were new to volunteering, what would you encourage them to do or to think to put themselves forward?
Speaker 4:I have a friend whose favourite line when he's asked to do something or somebody else is asked to do something, he advises them don't put your head above the parapet. And I say do put your head above the parapet, Just get involved. You're going to meet things that you've never done before. It's part of life. You're going to learn something, especially if you've got experienced people who do know what they're doing, and they'll pull you along. So, yeah, never, ever say no.
Speaker 3:That's sound advice, Joe. Just on reflection yourself, how would you quantify what being involved with Volunteer Matters and Action Earth has brought to you personally?
Speaker 4:I suppose Robert and I are good friends now, after 14 years, you can't avoid it, and of course, I know his partner and he knows Sheila and what I miss is that we no longer work from the office in Edinburgh. In fact, I'm not sure there is an office now in Edinburgh. However, you know, working from home is the modern thing, so we both managed to do it quite well.
Speaker 3:And we're sitting in this beautiful garden in Muthill amongst you know the nature of early summer We've got foxgloves, bumblebees around us, a robin in the trees. This is the Make Space for Nature podcast for Nature Scott. And how do you make space for nature in your own life, joe?
Speaker 4:Well, we just do what we can. I mean, I think we spend a fortune on bird food in the winter and even and it's amazing we have a wide variety of birds In that hedge to the right there. The noise sometimes suggests there's at least 2,000 sparrows in there, mainly towards the front of the house. We've got another few dozen tits, blue tits and great tits, and even we've seen a few crested tits as well. We've got a woodpecker comes here. Yes, we've got quite a variety of birds. So we do that, do something for them. We try and grow a bit of vegetables over there. That's my job. I'm allowed to do that.
Speaker 3:And I see, in this lovely patch in the centre of your garden, you've maybe had a bit of no more me inspiration, or you've allowed it to grow wild.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I've done that for about four years now and we'll continue. I'd like to put some more wildflowers in, so we'll get some plugs there maybe.
Speaker 3:And we walked past the church here in Muthill and there's a beautiful community garden there. It's obviously quite a green space, a green village.
Speaker 4:Did you notice the blooming shed? We did notice the blooming shed. We have an organisation called Muthill in Bloom and it's partly fundraising, but they have created this blooming shed. We have an organisation called Muthlin Bloom and it's partly fundraising, but they've created this blooming shed and they sell, they put produce in there that people can donate a couple of pounds for. There's books and videos and games that you can exchange or whatever. And yeah, the garden's quite well maintained. In fact the village is quite well maintained. In fact, the village is quite well maintained by Whittle and Bloom.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you so much for your time today, joe. It's been wonderful hearing of everything you've offered through your volunteering and everything that's possible for others to volunteer for nature. Thank you.
Speaker 4:Good, okay, well, I'll long be to continue and I'll keep going.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening. If you're enjoying Make Space for Nature, please follow it on your podcast app and leave a review or rating. We'd also love you to tell more people about this series. For more ways to connect with and help protect Scotland's natural world, go to naturespot. Thank you.