Hi folks, my name is Kate Williamson and I am one of the new Natural Communities Trainees for 2012. My placement is with Stirling Council and my official role is Community Support Ranger, working closely with both the Ranger Service and the Communities Team at the council.
Walking the Great Glen Way 2011
The focal community of my placement is that of Cultenhove, a small community in the South of Stirling, which is at the heart of a new regeneration scheme. The scheme aims to develop both residential areas and greenspaces, in order to improve the quality of life for residents. My role in all of this is to focus on improving a currently unmanaged ‘linear park’, running through the heart of the area, which often divides particular residential areas. I aim to bring these people together through setting up some key interest groups and holding fun and educational events throughout the year, sparking interest in the care of, and encouraging respect, for their local environment.
The park has a lot of potential, and forms a key part of an important local green corridor, which runs from the outskirts of Stirling right up to its famous castle.
I am really excited about this challenge, as it is a very new concept for the community and I really hope to make a lasting impression on the people, inspiring them to continue the work long after I have moved on…..and that’s just the half of it!
On the flipside, the rest of my time is going to be spent assisting the rest of the rangers on a variety of projects, including volunteer action days, habitat management, public events and cake eating 🙂 … to name a few.
My first three weeks have been very busy, and my diary is quickly filling up with lots of exciting things. So far I have attended various meetings, a Cultenhove coffee morning run by the pro-active Cultenhove Opportunities Partnership (or COP for short), and a volunteer action day at Plean Country Park. I also attended the official opening of the 2012 Salmon season on the River Teith at Callander. I learned a great deal about salmon fishing that day, including how to tell the difference between a Baggot, a Rawner, a Kelt and a Springer, which I later researched on Google, as I could have sworn the latter was a type of dog!
Teith Spring Salmon (Springer)
You know what they say….every day is a school day!
Yesterday I re-acquainted myself with the fine art that is building bird-boxes, as part of National Nest Box Week. This time last year I was embarking on my first event as a volunteer ranger with the Stirling Council Ranger Service, helping members of the public to put together bird-boxes in the centre of Stirling. I learned how to trust a four-year-old over a pensioner with a hammer and that even the most hard-core bikers can have a soft-spot for their feathered friends.
Happy Bikers
Before I got this great opportunity with BTCV, I graduated from the University of Stirling with an honours degree in Ecology in 2009. Throughout my studies I volunteered for various PhD students on a variety of projects including the Geomorphological and ecological validation of river typing in Scotland, which involved a lot of standing in rivers in the beautiful Royal Deeside.
I also worked on The Aspen Hoverfly Project, running around the RSPB Insh Marshes reserve near Kingussie looking for the endangered and elusive Aspen Hoverfly.
After university, I volunteered at the RSPB’s Argtay Red Kite Visitor Centre near Doune and also got involved with the Volunteer Ranger Programme run by the Stirling Council Ranger Service.
I also had an internship as a countryside ranger for four months with East Renfrewshire Council through the Adopt an Intern Scheme run by CSPP. Located at Dams to Darnley Country Park, this was my first true taste of ranger work.
It is mostly down to a lot of volunteering and work experience that I now find myself with this massive opportunity thanks to BTCV and the Heritage Lottery Fund. I am proud to tell people that I am a Natural Communities Trainee. The coming year is going to be life changing for me, providing the perfect opportunity for me to broaden my skill set, do a lot of networking and get a lot of training that I would not have had the opportunity to do otherwise.
Cheerio for now!