TCV Blogs Editor

Our Christmas fundraising appeal was inspired by David, a TCV volunteer, and his son Joseph.

Our fundraising team use valuable case studies like David’s to share with people the importance of the individuals that we work with. Also to highlight how volunteering in a green space has such a huge impact on many people’s lives and the lives of others.

If you would like to make a donation this Christmas to help others like David click here. We welcome your support.

For David, his regular attendance at his local Green Gym was invaluable to helping him cope with his mental health.

“I went along [to Green Gym] and I was really anxious, and I met Jules and Zoe. The first time was a bit rocky because I didn’t know anybody but it’s different now.

There isn’t a topic that we cannot discuss now whereas before I didn’t feel like I could talk to anybody, Julie has made me feel so welcome. We do this now, so that everyone feels welcome.”

David – TCV Volunteer

When we spoke to David about him being the focus of our Christmas appeal, he was incredibly supportive and he also wanted to contribute to raising awareness of mental health.

Good mental health is an asset and is also linked to good physical health – both of which support positive social and economic outcomes for individuals and society.

“Doing Green Gym and other volunteering gets me out of my own head. I still suffer from depression and anxiety but I am working on them.

Getting out of the house makes a huge difference.”

David – TCV Volunteer

Mental health disorders account for almost a quarter of the total burden of ill health in the UK.

Sadly, we are starting to see more evidence that COVID-19 has had significant impact on mental health and health inequalities.

Since UK’s lockdown in March, TCV surveyed volunteers that told us about the importance of volunteering for reducing isolation. 72% of surveyed volunteers said that their social connectedness had become worse since lockdown.

Despite this, we have also seen how communities have come together during the pandemic, highlighting the value of community support.

64% of our volunteers said that their value of ‘community’ increased during this time.

“I take one day at a time, I don’t want to get my hopes up. I don’t even know what my hopes are, I just enjoy doing what I’m doing and I want to continue doing it.

Last year after Christmas, we were back in the Green Gym on 28^th December because we were so fed up of sitting at home and doing nothing.

We just wanted to get back in the Green Gym again.”

David – TCV Volunteer

Volunteering at TCV and exercising outdoors on projects with a purpose and with a social group has positive mental outcomes*. Projects such as our Green Gym contribute to participants’’ mental and physical health, as well as helping to improve local green spaces.

We know that the work of TCV helps thousands of people each year and we need your support to help our work continue – donate today.

David described how difficult his life was before joining TCV, and how different his life is now by volunteering at his local Green Gym. TCV has helped him with his mental health and given him confidence and connectedness to his community.

Please if you can make a donation this Christmas to help others like David click here.

Everything that lives on our planet depends upon the wonderful web of wildlife that fills the earth beneath us. That’s the message of the UN’s World Soil Day. 

Soil is not just dirt. It teems with a community of plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms – ranging from the familiar mole and earthworm, to the truly alien: a microscopic worm-eating fungus that catches its prey with a lasso!  

The health of this invisible jungle is vital to us all. But what can we do in our every-day lives to protect the life in our soils?  Here are some practical steps you can take:

1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Even if you don’t have a garden, or look after a community green space, you can help save our soils by being careful what you throw away. The less that goes into landfill, the better for our soil and everything in it.
   
2. Grow trees – preferably deciduous native ones. Trees do a terrific job below ground as well as above.  Decaying leaves provide nourishment for earthworms and microscopic invertebrates vital for the health of the soil while tree roots create an intricate network of underground habitats and bind the soil to prevent erosion.  I Dig Trees offers free trees to help you get cracking!
   
3. Use plants that suit local conditions – vegetation that doesn’t need a lot of looking after will allow the other inhabitants of your soil too thrive too.
   
4. Lay down a log – decaying wood provides a home and nourishment for topsoil inhabitants. A little pile of stones will also provide shelter for creatures that aerate the soil like ants, woodlice and earth worms.  If all you have is a patio or decking, plant pots or even bin bags full of stuff will provide useful shelter for earthworms.
   
5. Add water – a small pond can provide a habitat for toads which contribute to soil turnover, or create a mini-wetland: dig out a shallow area, lay down a plastic sheet and re-fill the hole.
   
6. Compost, compost, compost – save every scrap of vegetable and throw it on a compost heap.  This will nourish your plants and soil life while reducing or eliminating the cost of buying commercial (peat-free) product.
   
7. Use less water-soluble fertiliser – organic materials that need to be broken down in the soil will encourage a healthy population of micro-organisms.
   
8. Make peace with pests – growing plants that are resistant to local pests will mean less need for chemicals which can harm wildlife above and below ground. 
   
9. Take up Citizen Science – there’s still much we don’t know about the fantastic diversity of organisms in the soil (even the humble earthworm has its mysteries).  Get recording!
   
10. Join in, feel good – it’s a jungle down there and TCV teams and community groups are out every day caring for it!

Volunteering is at the heart of all we do here at The Conservation Volunteers. We are incredibly proud of our community of volunteers across the country who devote their time week in, week out, to care for and protect our local green spaces.

We don’t have to tell you that this year has been a strange one, with our volunteering sessions being temporarily suspended during the height of the UK lockdown earlier this year for the first time in over 60 years.

This International Volunteers Day, we want to take the opportunity to thank each and every one of our volunteers. Without your hard work and dedication, we wouldn’t be able to achieve all that we do.

You are what make TCV so special. You are all heroes in our eyes.

So, we want to take this opportunity to highlight some of work that has continued throughout the most unusual of years and we look forward to seeing what you will achieve in 2021!

We are still mad about trees

Tree planting season has book-ended 2020, with many of our volunteers using the new year to get outside and plant the trees they received through I Dig Trees.

We are always amazed by the continued dedication of our volunteers who are out planting trees in the dead of night (or early morning), coming together as a community to increase the number of trees planted. Even our corporate partners were out planting trees to help fight climate change.

Locked-down, but not out

While many of us were adjusting to the lockdown measures that came into place in March, TCV volunteers didn’t let that stop them.

Read all about the efforts our team and volunteers made to keep connected to nature and their community in the first couple of months of lockdown.

We saw communities all over the country come together to help the most vulnerable members of their community and make sure we got through the most difficult of times together. We are incredibly proud of all at TCV who played their part during lockdown and beyond.

Join in, feel good online

With social distancing guidelines in place, many of our volunteer groups went online to stay connected with each other and to nature.

WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups, newsletters and much more were created to ensure that social connectedness was not lost at a time when we felt the most distant from each other.

Teams such as TCV Birmingham have been making the most of going online by making sure that they are keeping everyone busy with hints and tips for gardening, recipes to use once produce is ready to harvest.

TCV Community Network Welcomed New Members

With TCV Community Network membership free for new and existing members this year, with thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery, the network has been thriving.

During lockdown, many of the groups let us know how they had been adapting and caring for the local green spaces and their communities.

Incredible Edible Garforth set up a raised bed at their local train station to provide commuters with fresh fruit and veg on their travels. The Pightle Millennium Green Trust created an enchanted forest for children and adults to enjoy during their daily walks.

Award winning volunteers

Back in June, TCV Belfast received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. This is the highest award a volunteering group in the UK can receive and is the equivalent of an MBE.

Helen Tomb, TCV Belfast Operations Leader said of the group’s win: “We are absolutely thrilled to win the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. This award is a great achievement for all those who devote their time and energy to making a difference.”

TCV Belfast was one of 230 charities, social enterprises, and voluntary groups to receive the award this year and will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2021, along with other recipients of this year’s award.

In December, our People’s Postcode Lottery Volunteer of the Year winner was announced. See who was victorious this year over on our YouTube channel.

Want to do something different in 2021?

If you are as inspired as we are by our volunteers, why not join your local TCV group and try something new in 2021. Head on over to our website and find out how to join in, feel good.

1,078,000 trees. That’s the number of trees The Conservation Volunteers’ partnership with OVO Energy celebrated being planted with their I Dig Trees programme in 2019.

With 370,000 trees up for grabs this year, the biggest yearly pledge to date, the 2020/21 tree planting seasons looks to be even bigger!

With the start of the tree planting season, quickly approaching, we are taking a look at why trees are so important in the fight against climate change and how you can still be part of this year’s effort whilst remaining COVID-19 safe.

Looking back at the 2019/20 planting season

Last year, the climate crisis dominated the news agenda around the world. School children across the globe went on strike, people marched to demand action from their leaders and governments and promises of more trees being planted by governments across the globe were promised.

With the coronavirus lockdown beginning as the 2019/20 tree planting season drew to a close, the climate crisis has taken a backseat to a more immediate threat. However, this doesn’t mean the crisis has stopped.

In 2019, we kicked off the tree planting season with a fantastic TCV 60^th Anniversary Tree Planting Event in West Hampstead, London. Over 100 TCV volunteers joined us to plant 3,500 new native trees.

Our I Dig Tree partners OVO Energy joined us for the special event and by the end of the season, we reached over 1 million trees planted through I Dig Trees since the programme began!

If laid out tip to tip, the trees planted as part of I Dig Trees would reach from Aberdeen to London, or collectively cover 46,750 tennis courts! It’s easy to see why I Dig Trees won the Charity Times Award for Corporate Social Responsibility Project of the Year.

TCV and OVO Energy promised that next year would be bigger and better as we encouraged more people across the UK to plant trees in a bid to beat climate change, and whilst lockdown may have put a stop to our spring and summer activities, we’re hopeful that we will be able to make good on our promise this autumn and winter.

2020/21 Tree Planting Season

With lockdown measures changing regularly, we are working hard behind the scenes to ensure that we are able to go ahead with our tree planting plans for this season.

The planting of trees is an important and simple thing that we can all do to contribute to the fight against the climate crisis. Trees help to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide, using the carbon to produce sugars for tree growth and releasing the oxygen back into the air.

In April, due to the global lockdown, daily global carbon emissions were down by 17% compared to 2019, but they rose to just a 5% decrease by June.

As lockdown measures have eased around the world, the brief respite we had in global emissions will be long forgotten, therefore it is important that we focus on what we can do now to protect our planet for the future generations.

That is why for the 2020/21 tree planting season, I Dig Trees is pledging its largest number of trees to date: 370,000! However, none of the success of I Dig Trees happen without the help of YOU, our wonderful volunteers, coming together to make a difference.

For climate. For wildlife. For communities – I Dig Trees! To find out more about I Dig Trees visit our website or follow us on Twitter to keep up-to-date with the latest TCV news.

All volunteers are heroes – donating their time to another person or cause because they have a passion. But what makes a TCV Hero?

At The Conservation Volunteers, we’re grateful for each person who comes out, rain or shine, to their local green space to help improve or maintain it. We’re grateful for those who support others in their group, perhaps with practical tasks, to teach someone something new, or to just sit with a cup of tea and talk with each other to alleviate their anxiety. Our volunteers feel connected to their community and want to see local people benefit from their conservation efforts. They care for the environment and know that their spare hours spent planting trees or creating homes for wildlife will benefit us all.

That’s what makes a TCV Hero. Every year, we celebrate all of our volunteers with the TCV Hero Awards and turn the spotlight on a chosen few who were nominated by staff as winners. We love to use this opportunity to showcase what TCV volunteers achieve: for their own health and wellbeing or learning and skills, and for their community and the environment.

Because of COVID-19, we haven’t been able to hold the event we usually do, but we’re still celebrating! Many of our volunteers haven’t been able to come out with us since March but they may have years of volunteering behind them that deserves recognition. While our activities had stopped, we heard stories of volunteers helping their local community with food deliveries or cheering up children in their neighbouring streets.

We were also impressed by the volunteers who took the lead upon return to volunteering with getting sites back up and running and ensuring the sessions are COVID-secure. Our volunteers cared for others during this difficult time or they may have focused on their own health and their family’s – and they all deserve the Hero title.

Many of our sessions have resumed with safety procedures in place and aligned with government guidance. We know that lockdown had an effect on our volunteers, with 32% of those surveyed reporting a decrease in their mental health and 72% a decrease in their social connectedness. In time, as more sites and projects open, we can get more of our heroes back to volunteering.

It’s the heroes who support charities like ours that mean this is possible. Without you, we wouldn’t be here for our volunteers to make a difference to their lives, their communities, or the environment.

Thank you for playing People’s Postcode Lottery. Thank you for being our heroes.

We’re celebrating all of our volunteers this week, so keep an eye out on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram on Thursday 3^rd December at midday for who will be crowned the People’s Postcode Lottery Volunteer of the Year at the virtual TCV Hero Awards.

Article Written by TCV Volunteer Officer, John Bark
Article updated November 2020

Since TCV and OVO Energy launched the I Dig Trees campaign back in 2015, well over one million free trees have been allocated to public places, with individual volunteers and community groups helping to get them planted across the UK…..

The speed of uptake this year is in keeping with last year, despite the pandemic and demonstrates the increasing demand from people and groups who want to make a real difference to their local environment. 

All they need now is enough help to get this years’ 370,000 whips (baby trees) safely into the ground by the end of the planting season to reach the target of 1,448,000 trees planted since the programme began.

If you are wondering whether it’s worth joining in, here are 10 good reasons to make the effort…

Fight climate change

Global warming is happening because carbon dioxide (CO₂) from all sources (natural and made-made) is accumulating in the atmosphere. Natural processes just don’t absorb the amount that is being produced fast enough.

Unfortunately, we have yet to invent an easily mass-produced machine (running on renewable energy) that will take CO₂ out of the air and lock it away where it can do no harm.

Fortunately, Nature has done the job for us with a highly effective carbon-capture device that’s cheap to install and maintain: the tree!  Through photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and go on doing so for years, absorbing CO₂ faster as they mature.  When trees age and decay, the carbon stored goes into the soil, not the air.

It’s direct action

Taking to the streets or putting your cross in a box are ways to get other people to do what you can’t do yourself. But there is no guarantee they will act – even if they understand the problem and sincerely want to make a difference.  But once you have planted a tree (with the landowner’s position), it’s done. One tiny positive step towards a better future. You don’t even have to be old enough to vote!

Wildlife benefits

Woodland – especially mixed native woodland – is a fabulous habitat for lichens, fungi, insects, birds and mammals. Some of this life you never see, like the fungal ‘mycelium’ network connecting tree to tree beneath your feet; others such as the jay bring a flash of colour and delight to a woodland walk.

Trees planted beside intensively cultivated farmland provide valuable shelter and food for birds such as the lark and the fast disappearing turtle dove.  Urban trees support wildlife too, commonplace creatures you barely notice, but you would miss if they vanished.

It’s good for your community

The simple act of planting trees is a great way to bring together a diverse range of people in a single cause.  And not just people in rural areas or leafy suburbs.

Planting in neglected urban spaces can help to create pride of place and strengthen the bonds within a neighbourhood. Trees can also make communities more resilient in the face of climate change.

Planted in the right place, trees can protect communities by reducing the threat of flooding and soil erosion. Planting a community orchard brings free fresh fruit in season!

Trees create their own climate

The Amazon rainforest makes rain clouds (see episode 3 of BBC’s wonderful Seven Worlds, One Planet), but all trees everywhere affect local climate, capturing rainfall, acting as windbreaks and providing cooling shade for people, animals and buildings.

Woods mean wealth

It is possible to put a cash figure on the benefit of tree-planting to society. According to the National Capital Committee, independent advisors to HM Government, 250,000 hectares of woodland planted near to cities and towns would produce £500 million in ‘societal benefits’ a year.

Cleaner air

Trees produce more oxygen than they use, a by-product of photosynthesis, but they also trap air particles and droplets which can damage human health.

Better health

Working on green projects outdoors is great for anyone who wants to get fit, but maybe doesn’t fancy the gym, or needs a bit more motivation.  Tree planting adds extra purpose that benefits others. It can also be more effective than going to a traditional gym. 

Studies have found that people taking part in conservation activities can use up to a third more calories than in a step aerobics class. And if you join a community group to care for your trees and other green spaces, you could have a fitness course for life (with guilt-free cake at tea break!).

Feel good

Green activity in the great outdoors has been shown to have a positive impact on mental well-being.  And even if you believe you are at the peak of mental strength and fitness, just think of the sense of achievement after an hour or two helping to save the planet.

It’s easy

You can make a lasting contribution towards a better future for everyone in just a few minutes.  All you need is a spade, a tree and some sturdy footwear!

Together we can plant one million trees across the UK.

You can help further by sharing your #IDigTrees experiences on social media:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

This December, The Conservation Volunteers are one of the many charities that will benefit from ICAP Charity Day.

Taking place on 10^th December, ICAP Charity Day sees the interdealer broker globally raise and donate 100% of their revenues and commissions to charity for one day, with the help of some famous faces along the way.

This year, TCV are one of those charities. With the money raised on the day, we will be launching The ICAP Fruit Tree Initiative – From the Ground Up!

From the Ground Up! will engage and educate school children in the natural outdoor classroom by planting and nurturing a tree from the ground upwards.

For many children, this will be their first opportunity to connect with nature to create positive lifelong memories after a time where the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the life of every child in the country.

Why schools?

Sadly, today our children are growing up more and more disconnected from nature. Around 75% of UK children spend less than an hour outside every day according to one study.

Since the 1970s, opportunities for children to explore and learn about the environment have reduced dramatically. With more than 10,000 school playing fields across Britain being turned over to development, it’s unsurprising that our children are disconnecting from nature^{[1] [2]}.

At TCV, we work within urban areas where safe and accessible green spaces can sometimes be few and far between. Our team have seen first-hand the effects of being disengaged with nature can have on the younger generations.

We’ve had children visit us who are reluctant to walk through woodland because they’ve never been under a closed tree canopy before and children who have rarely played on grass, because they are from a Victorian part of the city with back to back housing and tarmac schoolyards.”

Lucy Wheeler – TCV Skelton Grange (Leeds) Operations Leader.

By participating in The ICAP Fruit Tree Planting Initiative – From the Ground Up! children will become gardeners, botanists and scientists. They will be able to experience the sights, scents and textures of the outdoors which every child needs to thrive.

From the Ground Up! will provide countless opportunities for discovery, creativity, problem-solving, and STEM education. By interacting with the natural environment around them, children will learn more about the environment they live and what they need to do to help it survive.

Why trees?

Trees are not only aesthetically pleasing and able to provide a multitude of environmental and educational benefits – they are carbon-busting, air-enhancing, biodiversity-increasing, shade-providing wooden wonders! All beneficial to children, schools, the environment, and to the local wildlife.

Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere and does so at a more rapid rate as they mature. Tree planting is direct action in the fight against climate change. By engaging our children with tree planting, we are teaching them to care for and to protect their natural environment.

In the words of our Vice President Sir David Attenborough, “No one will protect what they don’t care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced”.

By planting trees, this project will leave a lifelong legacy for 50+ years in schools across the UK. Future generations will be able to get planting, nurturing, harvesting, and learning.

Why TCV?

At TCV, we are a group of tree planting enthusiasts! Through various tree planting initiatives, we have helped to increase the UK’s tree canopy in a bid to fight climate change and increase our biodiversity.

Our I Dig Trees tree planting programme, in partnership with OVO Energy, has planted over 1 million trees since 2015.

As a conservation charity that works with schools across the UK, we are ideally positioned to launch this initiative. We work with UK native tree suppliers to order and ship tree whips across the country in time for the prime planting season of November – March.

We are passionate about engaging the next generation of conservation heroes. It is important to us that they are equipped with the same knowledge and passion for the environment as we are.

By bringing the outdoors to the classroom, children will learn first-hand about the small things they can do to protect their planet.

To find out more about ICAP Charity Day, visit their website here.

To stay up to date with the latest TCV news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Or why not sign up to our monthly Greenzine newsletter.

14^th November marks World Diabetes Day created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organisation to recognise the growing concerns about the increasing health threat posed by the disease.

Knowing the risks of type 2 diabetes and making small changes to your lifestyle could be one of the most important things you do today

Diabetes is a condition where your blood glucose level is too high. This happens when your body does not produce enough insulin (a hormone made by the pancreas that controls the amount of glucose in your bloodstream), or when you cannot produce any at all.

There are two types main types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Other types of diabetes include gestational diabetes and Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA). They are all different conditions but are equally as serious.

Diabetes in the UK

One in 15 people in the UK have diabetes, according to diabetes.org.uk. There are one million people in the UK who have type 2, but haven’t been diagnosed.

Type 1 diabetes effects around 8% of people with diabetes in the UK. Type 2 effects around 90% of those with diabetes in the UK.

More people than ever before are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. More than five million people will have diabetes in the UK by 2025 if nothing changes.

Social Prescribing and Diabetes

Social prescribing enables GPs and other frontline healthcare professionals to refer patients to a link worker. Link workers provide patients with a face-to-face conversation to help patients to design their own personalised solutions. People with social, emotional, or practical needs are empowered to find their own methods to improve their health and wellbeing.

According to a 2019 report, approximately 41% of social prescribing participants have type 2 diabetes.

Social prescribing helps people with long-term conditions, such as diabetes, increase their confidence and ability to manage their illness, and to reduce costs and/or improve value to the NHS in their treatment.

The risk of type 2 diabetes can be reduced or go into remission by maintaining a healthy weight, eating well and being active.

People who suffer from Type 2 diabetes often have other long-term conditions and the illness is often associated with mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

TCV Green Gym and Diabetes

If you are talking to your GP about your diabetes, or perhaps you have already been referred to a link-worker, consider asking them about Green Gym as an option to manage your condition.

TCV Green Gyms are fun and free outdoor sessions where you will be guided in practical activities such as planting trees, sowing meadows and establishing wildlife ponds.

Unlike other conservation projects, the emphasis is very much on health and fitness. Unlike regular gyms , there is no subscription fee, Green Gyms are free to join.

Knowdiabetes.org.uk recommends Green Gyms as a way to keep fit and active as they can help you to reduce your blood sugar levels whilst keeping fit and helping the environment.

TCV Green Gyms are also proven to reduce stress and anxiety, which people may struggle with upon learning they are at risk of type 2 diabetes.

Participating in a Green Gym will enhance your mental wellbeing through increased contact with nature, the social benefits of group activity and helping to contribute something positive to your community.

Knowing the risks of type 2 diabetes and making small changes to your lifestyle could be one of the most important things you do today. Head over to our Green Gym page to find out where your local gym is, or to set up one of your own.

For more information on TCV’s work with social prescribing, check out the Social Prescribing Network’s website.