Shadow Volunteers: Growing the environmentalists for tomorrow

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By Victoria Tofte, Technical Volunteer Co-ordinator for Forestry England

As budgets get tighter, trends and focus on volunteering are changing. People who volunteer may need to weigh up the value they get out of volunteering and flexibility alongside work or family. For organisations it might be that staff time and resources available to support volunteering are also under review. Tough times, tough decisions.

However, for Forestry England and many other environmental organisations, volunteers are more than an amazing extra pair of hands providing skills that support our vulnerable habitats, wildlife and heritage. For many of us, volunteering was the gateway into environment and conservation as a career. Without volunteers we could be missing out on new, enthusiastic and talented people joining, benefiting and growing our sector.

In the current financial climate many of my colleagues are seeing a change in volunteer enquiries with more people asking for work experience to consider career changes and volunteer opportunities that provide the skills to increase employability. For over 100 years Forestry England have cared for our nation’s forests. We look after more land and trees than any other organisation in England, manage over 1,800 miles of trails and grow England’s largest resource of sustainably-sourced timber. We also work with a wide range of experts and partners across landscapes and to outreach to our communities. Because of this we recognise we are in a privileged position to help grow the environmentalists of the future and launched Shadow Volunteers to help us fulfil that role.

Successful applicants to the Shadow Volunteer program shadow a Forestry England member of staff, to develop experience and on the job skills, one to three days a week over six months. The role is voluntary but genuine costs are covered and Shadows also receive uniform, personal protective clothing and equipment, formal training and a rucksack of useful outdoor kit to help them in their role and to keep.

The idea initially started out as Shadow Rangers, a local initiative in Central England forests over 10 years ago. It gave volunteers a unique volunteer opportunity to gain hands on experience in managing the nation’s forests and to find out more about the environment sector. Staff would express an interest in mentoring a Shadow Volunteer by developing a role description, demonstrating a need and value for the role and ensuring they had the time and resources to support their Shadow. Volunteers would be given guidance on applying for jobs and interviews and getting their foot on the environment career ladder. The project was always oversubscribed and had a high success rate in helping participants find their first job in the environment sector.

The success of Shadow Rangers lay in the one-to-one time that staff gave participating volunteers, mentoring them and sharing skills and experience. Quite a time investment, but because the role was created by staff in response to an identified need for a set time period it helped them feel in control. They could plan for when they needed the Shadow Volunteer at a time when an extra pair of hands would be really appreciated, which also gave the volunteer the best experience. There’s nothing worse than being a volunteer with little to do and the Shadow Volunteer can see the impact of their work and their value to the team.

To expand the shadow opportunities available the project was rolled out nationally. This meant that national admin and project support could be provided to co-ordinate the program and allow staff on the ground to focus on the job they were doing so well. In 2019 Shadow Rangers became Shadow Volunteers as it took on wider forestry roles and recruited twice a year for March and September.

One of the key aims of Shadow Volunteers was to introduce a diversity of people to our sector. Because shadow roles are developed in response to need and location they change each round. With different roles in community outreach, conservation, ecology, recreation, education, forest management and events delivery, it’s a great platform to attract a wide range of volunteers. Days and times are negotiable to help support flexible working for people in different situations. Environmental qualifications and experience aren’t required as applicants are selected through demonstrating transferable skills, enthusiasm and an interest in the work we do. We also took guidance from a number of representative organisations to look at how we word our applications to welcome people from different backgrounds. Instead of relying on formal diversity forms we try and take a more welcoming approach and give applicants the space on the application form to talk about things that might make undertaking the Shadow Volunteer role challenging as an individual, rather than put them in a category. We focus more on how we might be able to work together to make reasonable adjustments to enable them to carry out the role. We’ve also had some great support from Scope who help promote our Shadow Volunteer opportunities and we target local community groups to outreach to the diversity of people living around forests where opportunities are available. In just 2 years this has resulted in double the number of applicants applying who have a disability, special needs or other challenges that may have reduced their confidence to apply.

Over the years the Shadow Volunteer program has helped many people make decisions about their next steps whether it be in further education, training or a different career. Some of our Shadow Volunteers have successfully applied for and started careers with us or with other environmental organisations.

Valentina completed the Shadow Volunteer program in 2021. She was previously a biologist teaching science in Italy but becoming a Shadow helped her make a career change and last year she was offered the position of Volunteer Co-ordinator in Central District.

Check out our Shadow Volunteer page for film clips of the Shadows at work and previous Shadow Volunteers in their new jobs. https://www.forestryengland.uk/article/shadow-volunteer-scheme

Forests are vital for the future of our planet, our health and wellbeing. We are thinking beyond today to plant and manage forests that will help create a sustainable future. To do that we need to act now to ensure people with the right skills, knowledge and experience are there to make it happen. To apply visit https://www.forestryengland.uk/article/shadow-volunteer-scheme in June and December when the roles and application process go live.

Vacancies now live on the CJS website here  

First published in CJS Focus on Volunteering in association with The Conservation Volunteers on 6 February 2023. Read the full issue here

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