Hello everybody.
We are Mónica and Gaspar, we are two Spanish citizens and we have been spending some lovely days with TCV Stirling for the last six weeks. Once a week, we have met up with the rest of the volunteers in the office, eager to start a new working day. We also had the chance to take part in two different projects, both set in and around Falkirk. The first two weeks we were helping with the planning and building of a boardwalk network to allow pedestrians access to an ancient Roman wall, and the woodland surrounding it. We started when the group was about to finish the project, but we had enough time to really lend a hand and help them. It was good fun to do some wood work and even for people with no experience it is possible to learn quickly and be useful.
After that, we started to work in The Helix Park wetland area, clearing a pond which was covered by reeds in some parts, especially the edge closer to the boardwalk around the edge of the pond. Despite the weather (and the smell) not being the best, working with cheerful, talkative and outgoing people made the tasks all the easier to do, and we spent fantastic days with a good sense of humour. We have been very privileged and glad to have helped improve the quality of the countryside in Stirlingshire in some sense, and to gain a better understanding of Scotland’s environment.
It might seem an easy job, but after getting involved in the main tasks you realise that TCV volunteer group work hard every day for the community, and spending time with them has been one of the best points of our experience in Scotland. It is definitely worthwhile if you want to meet new people and spend some spare time helping the local community. With this post we hope to encourage the growing number of foreigners living in Stirlingshire to join TCV and discover how much fun and rewarding the experience can be.
Mónica and Gaspar