Thinking about working with wildlife?
Get a real flavour of what the world of work is like, whilst making a real difference to your local environment.
Our work experience placements provide a great opportunity to learn new skills and decide whether a job in the conservation sector is for you.
What we can offer
We offer placements for students to gain valuable hands-on experience of working within an environmental organisation. This may include completing practical conservation tasks on a variety of habitats including chalk grassland, heathland, or wetland, or working with the education team to teach a class of students all about the minibeasts that can be found in a woodland.
Our work experience placements provide a fantastic opportunity for anyone with an interest in the natural world. If you have a specific interest, then please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate this.
We will support you during your placement, and are happy to be a referee for future job or further education applications.
Practical conservation
To gain some experience completing practical conservation tasks, you can join one of our volunteering groups that take place each week. Choose to join a day a week or head along every day for a week (we don’t currently have any sessions on a Friday) and experience a range of different tasks and habitats.
Typical tasks include scrub clearance, coppicing, removal of invasive species and setting up grazing compartments. No previous experience is necessary as a member of staff or experienced volunteer leader will lead each session and explain how to complete each task.
Education team
We are passionate about getting people outdoors and engaging them in the natural world and developing the knowledge and skills needed to take action for nature. We host school visits to our reserves and work on projects in school grounds which educate children, train teachers, and help local wildlife. We also deliver family events, wild birthday parties and holiday clubs. Activities with these groups often include pond dipping, mini beast hunting and wild woodland play.
If you are looking to gain some experience in the outdoor education sector, then please get in touch to discuss potential options.
We recommend that to get the most out of this experience you commit to a longer-term placement. Due to the nature of this placement, spaces are limited.
Hedgerow Heritage
Are you fascinated by Hedgerows and all they have to offer or are you just a little bit intrigued by these mini ecosystems?
Our National Lottery Heritage funded project, Hedgerow Heritage is focused on inspiring and educating budding young ecologists, practical conservationists and the wider community to restore, renew and create hedgerows in the North Downs and Surrey Hills.
There are lots of different opportunities for you to get involved from surveying to completing practical conservation tasks.
GIS project
GIS is becoming increasingly important in a variety of fields and having real world experience of GIS is the best way of improving your skills. If you would like to develop and improve your skills, then taking on a project could be the best way of gaining this experience.
We can offer you a GIS project over which you can take ownership and use to further develop your skills whilst knowing that your research is being used to support the work of Surrey Wildlife Trust. We will provide you with support whilst you complete the project and be on hand to answer any questions.
This is a very flexible work experience placement – you can do it from home and decide when you would like to complete the work for it. You may decide to complete it alongside studying or during the holidays as a way of maintaining your skills and gaining real world GIS experience. We do ask though that you have some knowledge of GIS. If you would like to learn how to use GIS, book yourself onto one of our courses.
Work experience enquiries
Email volunteers@surreywt.org.uk
Call 01483 795464