We Joined In & Made Friends
Conservation volunteers Viv and Nina found common ground
When Vivienne Scott moved to Norfolk from Hertfordshire, she was keen to get to know like-minded people and learn as much as she could about British wildlife and the huge variety of flora and fauna living near her new home.
So she joined the North Walsham Group of The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) last summer, having been inspired by an article written by group leader Mark Webster about a rare wild flower. His enthusiasm shone through and Vivienne felt she had found something she was passionate about and which fitted in with her interest in being environmentally responsible.
Soon after joining, Vivienne met Nina BoydO’Brien. Coming to the group for similar reasons, an advert for The Conservation Volunteers in a local magazine had caught her eye. She had been a member since spring, 2017.
“I’ve always had an interest in conserving and nurturing the local environment,” says Nina.
“Each week the volunteer work is fun and varied and you leave with an amazing sense of satisfaction.”
Nina, who describes herself as a young 67-yearold, says she has made some lovely new friends but was naturally drawn to Vivienne when they found how much they had in common, including their love of nature and the fact that they had both retired from nursing and midwifery careers.
“I look forward to the social and physical volunteer work each week with TCV,” she adds. “Viv has been coming along since last summer, which is wonderful
because she is always such a cheery soul!”
Describing the range of tasks, she laughs at how they both enjoy “facing together the demands of learning new skills such as bricklaying, or trying to use a bow-saw for the first time!”
Vivienne admits that being involved has been a learning process for her. The projects TCV organise could involve cutting back alder trees invading orchid meadows, or brambles from local trails and footpaths to allow rare plants to flourish, clearing weeds and debris from a
large pond, or bricklaying in a derelict rural railway station to bring it back to life and prevent further deterioration.
“The whole experience of working as one of the Conservation Volunteers is an extremely fulfilling one,” says Vivienne. “I love the physicality of it – you get down to it then step back and look and see what you have achieved. And I’ve learned so much about the natural world and how to help protect it.”
Keen gardener Nina, who recently gave up her car in order to live more simply, was very relieved when the advert said that a minibus would be provided to take members to the often very rural locations of their tasks.
“I was delighted to find that you can work at your own pace and enjoy the companionship of the team. The half-time tea break and chocolate biscuit is also gratefully received!”
TCV is very focused on offering a broad range of activities so that newcomers can start gently and build up to more demanding tasks if they wish.
Both women relish the opportunities presented by
their weekly get-together, which isn’t always hard work. Because of their keen interest in Norfolk’s wildlife, they thoroughly enjoy the weeks where the group walk the trails around the sites they maintain to gain knowledge about fungi, mosses or the local birds, learning from guest experts accompanying them.
“It’s been fantastic meeting Nina,” says Vivienne. “It was quite a surprise initially that we shared very similar work backgrounds. Possibly because of the demanding jobs we were both used to, I don’t think there is much that will faze us and we are definitely up for a challenge!”
As the logo on the TCV minibus so aptly puts it, “Join in, Feel Good!”