Time to volunteer?

FSC Preston Montford’s grounds have seen great developments in the past five months, thanks to the dedication of our volunteers and garden helpers.

The first few months of 2018 have seen a steadily growing Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) volunteer group take root at FSC Preston Montford. We have grown from two to five volunteers in just a few short months. The five 14/15 year olds are completing the volunteering section of the Bronze DofE award, which involves undertaking an average of 1 hour per week of approved voluntary work over a three or six month period.

The group is enjoying getting hands-on with a range of tasks. So far we have renovated the composting area, helped to add more homes to our bee hotel, worked on improvements to our vegetable garden and community garden, and we have recently begun work to improve our dead hedge for wildlife.

The year began with the volunteers braving sleet and snow to clear our older composting bays of nettles, so that we could move the matter that had started to decay into a new vegetation-free bay. This involved a lot of shovelling of decomposing organic matter and interspersing it with layers of cardboard to prevent any nettles from coming through.

DofE volunteers get stuck in clearing our older compost bays.

Hark-work pays off: compost bays free of vegetation!

As the weather briefly got warmer in February other activities, such as creating a wattle fence, were undertaken. Yet with March, came the sharp return of winter and sadly both the sessions that month were snowed off.


Thankfully, warmer weather returned with the arrival of April, and for the volunteers this meant helping Sami (Education Technician Assistant) with the vegetable and community gardens. Following on from this, we looked at the importance of pollinators and what they need to survive by adding more ‘rooms’ to our bee hotel. This involved sawing sections of bamboo to create what is essentially a tunnel blocked at one end, tying them up in bundles, and adding them to our bee hotel. Many bee and wasp species do not live in hives and are in fact solitary, preferring to create nests for their few offspring in small holes in trees, brick walls and soil. Some even add mud and leaves to their nests. With declining bee and wasp populations in the UK, providing places for solitary bees and wasps to nest is vitally important. Our DofE volunteers are trying to help these insects to thrive - insects which are vital for wildflower success and ultimately food production.

A home for bees.

May has seen our DofE volunteers begin work on improving our dead hedge. Dead hedges are often made from materials that you would put in your garden waste bin or on a bonfire - cut branches and pruned foliaged. Large quantities of dead wood are built up into a small hedge formation with posts in the ground either side at strategic points to keep the dead wood within the hedge. This forms a barrier much like a fence but with the added benefit of providing a habitat for insects, birds and small mammals. It’s a great way to use dead wood and improve an ecosystem service.

Other improvements have been made in our sensory garden, which is coming on leaps-and-bounds thanks to the hard work of our garden helpers. Fuelled by tea and enthusiasm, our small team has been keeping our raised beds weed free, planting picturesque willow arches and generally restoring order to over-grown areas. This has made a big difference to the groups that visit the centre, providing an interesting place to explore during sessions with our education team and a welcoming place to wonder in free-time.

If you are someone, or know someone, who is keen to learn new skills, meet new people and enjoys spending time in the outdoors we would love for you to join us on our volunteer days.

Duke of Edinburgh Volunteers meet every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month.Garden Helpers meet fortnightly on a Wednesday.

To discover more about volunteering, please contact us at enquiries.pm@field-studies-council.org  FSC Preston Montford.