Volunteer work in gardening / land management

Hi all

Does anyone know how I would go about finding some volunteer work in anything garden / land management?

I work in the middle of Sheffield city and my postage stamp sized, noisy back garden doesn't really stand much chance of ever being a fulfilling haven of peace because there is too much noise from traffic and kids, and some neighbours that will insist on having bonfires of still moist tree and plant clippings.

When I go up home (the north east) I have my piece of land to hide out on, but when I'm here in Sheffield I rapidly get bored. Anything that required expertise would be no good to me, but anything requiring an extra pair of hands where I could learn stuff while helping out would be right up my street.

Trouble is, I have no idea where to even begin looking for such work. Any ideas?

Cheers

 

Tut - you should have said !! Esp after I have spent all weekend tackling that huge Bridal Wreath .... you could have done it, while i watched and made the tea

I have no idea how you would find something you could help with, but can only think of two things.

1. Ask LMRR as I think I seen her post about a group of people doing gardening in local parks etc.

2. Am sure there is some sort of 'sheffield forum' where all local people discuss issues. There might be such groups on there already. Will see if I can find it ....

 

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/


Doh ! easy to remember that one huh ! .... and no I have never been to Sheffield! Just someone posted me a link to that site once about turtles (which i keep), hence why I knew about it lol

 

Thanks folks.

Sam, I'll have a good look on that forum. Thanks for that, here I am a seasoned forum user and it honestly never occurred to me that there might be a Sheffield one

John, good idea, thanks. I'll have a look at some of the charity websites and see what I can see. I'll have a look for the Sue Ryder one first seeing as you mention it specifically.

The local council used to keep a register that put volunteers in touch with various groups but I can't seem to find any mention of it now so maybe they stopped doing it (perhaps the old Health and Safety struck again)

 

That's a good idea, but I'd have to see how such a course would fit in with work commitments. I did once look to see if there was an evening class but there was nothing in my area at suitable time, but that was a while ago. The learning aspect is really secondary to just getting my hands dirty while breathing fresh air. I tend to pick things up fairly quickly so even if there was no actual tuition, if someone showed me how to do something they'd generally only have to show me once and then I could just get on with it.

 

Your welcome I would never have thought of it myself to be honest, its only cause I remember going to the link someone sent me once. Be worth posting a thread on there to see if anyone local knows of anything. Am sure if there is such things there, someone will more than likely know, or be able to point you in the right direction.

 

Voluntary Action Sheffield can put in touch with anyone who is actively looking for volunteers, and with lists of what voluntary organisations are around so that you could approach them.

http://www.vas.org.uk/volunteer-centre/index

Or here is a list of voluntary organisations in Sheffield

http://www.sheffieldhelpyourself.org.uk/

Heeley City farm has a very active volunteer base (and is easily accessible from the city centre)
http://www.heeleyfarm.org.uk/education.htm
and Whirlow Farm is another place where I believe there is lots of volunteer activity.

http://www.whirlowhallfarm.co.uk/index.htm

http://www.spanpartnership.org.uk/leaf-sheffield

http://www.growsheffield.com/pages/groShefabout.html

Or you can come and help me in my garden :hehe::hehe:

 

Thanks Hec, plenty there for me to have a look at.

 

I've finally waded through all those leads you've all kindly found for me, and I think I may contact Heeley Farm to see if they want me for a few hours a week. I might also have a word with my not so young neighbour to see about going halves on an allotment. Only today he was grumbling about running out of room in his garden, and I don't think I could effectively utilise a whole allotment myself, so it seems logical to see if he is interested in sharing one (assuming there's any available).

 

National Trust.

Also wildlife trusts. Ive done bits for the local wildlife trust before, always a sureal experience as using even just hand tools I can acheive the work of about four of the other volunteers in a day, still usually a good crowd and pleanty of beers sunk at the end of the day.

 

"I might also have a word with my not so young neighbour to see about going halves on an allotmen"

If you are looking for something less "volunteer" then looking for Landshare might get you a space to work and some veg. I haven't looked at the site recently, no idea if the idea is really taking off, or not:
http://landshare.channel4.com/