During my year working as a Natural Communities trainee in placement with Buglife I have worked on a range of projects, been given a multitude of opportunities, and received more training than you can shake a stick at. In building up to our showcase event, I’d like to highlight what has been so great about my year and just how substantial this whirlwind of activities has been. Therefore, read on to see some of the facts and figures that reflect my 365 days with TCV and Buglife:
- I led or co-ordinated over 50 community wildlife events, ranging from therapeutic nature walks with Glasgow Association for Mental Health, to bug hunts with schoolchildren, to native wildflower meadow creation with Urban Roots in Toryglen.
- To date I have completed 27 training courses which can roughly be broken down into ‘community’ and ‘ecology’ topics. This ranged from in house training with TCV in fundraising and community engagement, to grassland management with Buglife, to Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme certification.
- I represented TCV or Buglilfe at 13 different public events, largely telling people about the wondrous world of bugs.
- I wrote two fundraising bids, to CSV Action Earth and Grow Wild, in order to support the development of a native wildflower meadow creation project that engaged with local people in Toryglen.
- I worked in partnership with 17 different organisations across the central belt, engaging over 1,000 people in the magical world of invertebrates and their habitats.
- I engaged with a huge range of people, from all walks of life, including people suffering with mental health problems, children, older people with dementia, those with learning difficulties, people struggling with homelessness, carers, conservation volunteers, young asylum seekers, and many more.
It has been a fantastic year for me and I have leaned so much. To find out more about the work that I and other trainees have been doing over the past year, and how you might be able to connect with new Natural Networks trainees in 2015, come to our showcase event in Stirling on 27th February. Find tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/natural-communities-showcase-tickets-15177197406?ref=estw
