Volunteering with Heathland Connections

Ranger Volunteers at Hindhead and Witley Common

Assisting the Ranger with practical heathland management work including scrub cutting and burning, sand lizard habitat creation, fence repairs, bench installation, pathway cutting and pond work.

Roaming Rangers

Roaming Rangers – being eyes and ears on the ground, reporting issues (such as fallen trees/antisocial behaviour/litter/broken infrastructure) to the Ranger via whatsapp with clear locations so that the Ranger team can resolve the issue.

Email hindhead@nationaltrust.org.uk for more details

The Hampton Estate offers flexible, ad-hoc volunteering opportunities for those interested in helping to conserve this beautiful landscape. If you’d like to get involved, please reach out to Molly here. To learn more about Hampton Estate and their work, visit their website here.

Volunteers at Thursley play an essential role in the practical management of this unique habitat. Tasks may include scrub clearance, creating bare ground habitats through digging scrapes, replacing site infrastructure like boardwalks and benches, assisting with species surveys, and contributing to health and safety monitoring on the National Nature Reserve (NNR). This opportunity is required on Thursdays and one Sunday a month.

Friends of Thursley Common Volunteer Warden Scheme
Volunteer Wardens take on an active public engagement role, welcoming visitors, providing information about the NNR, offering tips on responsible behavior in the heathland, assisting with events, and helping to guard against the risk of fire by raising early warnings.

If you’re interested in volunteering, contact NNR Reserve Manager, James, here.

Volunteering opportunities are available across 30 nature reserves owned or managed by the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC) within a 25-mile radius of Guildford, Surrey. These reserves span over 850 hectares of vital lowland heath habitat.

Volunteers contribute to a range of important tasks, including habitat management such as scrub and bare ground maintenance, pond management, site infrastructure work like fencing repairs, and conducting amphibian and reptile surveys. Additionally, volunteers assist with public events. ARC reserves are home to native and reintroduced populations of protected species, including the natterjack toad, sand lizard, and smooth snake.

Register with ARC to start volunteering here.

A variety of conservation based tasks on one of our reserves in the south west of Surrey. These tasks could be anything from scrub and bracken clearance to species surveys or conservation grazing support.

If you are not already a registered volunteer, please register your interest online here, or if you need more information email volunteers@surreywt.org.uk. Once registered your email address can then be added to the mailing list to receive the weekly update email on practical conservation days.

Waverley’s countryside rangers lead regular practical conservation tasks on a variety of sites across the borough with the aim of improving sites for both wildlife and visitors. Tasks can include clearing small trees and scrub, cutting back encroaching vegetation from paths, pulling out invasive species, hedge-laying, planting trees and installing benches. There are also opportunities to assist with wildlife surveys.

Sites include Frensham Common, Mare Hill Common, Farnham Park and Blackheath Common

For a detailed volunteer task programme for each site, and to register as a volunteer, head to the Waverley volunteer website here.

Surrey Hills Conservation Volunteers undertake conservation and access work across the Surrey Hills National Landscape, managing access and habitats for people and nature. Volunteering activities include native hedge planting, scrub clearance, tree popping, and invasive species removal as well as footpath auditing, event support and wildlife surveying. We have a volunteer mailing list for members of the public and create bespoke volunteering opportunities for corporates, schools and community groups.

Visit our website here.

(These opportunities include ad hoc volunteering open to public, corporate volunteering and community group volunteering focusing on those new to volunteering or who normally face barriers to volunteering).