Try some dry-stone walling

BTCV the UK's leading practical conservation charity is encouraging thousands of people to get involved with local environmental conservation projects at hundreds of locations across the UK.

It's third annual 'Spring into Action' campaign started on 1 May and running through to 8 June, allows new volunteers to experience first-hand the benefits of helping out their local community by improving their surrounding environment.

Last year's 'Spring into Action' campaign saw over 18,000 volunteers give more than 31,000 days of their time to improve their environments at over 760 locations. From clearing urban spaces to creating wildlife habitats, volunteers made a big difference to their local surroundings.

This year is set to be even better. Projects vary from tree planting to dry-stone walling, footpath construction to monitoring wildlife populations. BTCV project leaders are on hand to provide guidance and training, and volunteers are free to work at their own pace as all ages and abilities are welcome.

The campaign is an opportunity to work on and take pride in the surroundings you share with your local community as well as being a chance to work outside and get some exercise! Celebrities seem to agree, as British legend Sir David Attenborough is a Vice President of the charity.

What’s more, BTCV’s Diversity Report 2008 shows a massive increase in the number of disabled people taking part in environmental conservation activities. The greatest rise was amongst BTCV’s key volunteers, where the proportion classing themselves as disabled has gone from zero to one-in-ten in just two years.

For all BTCV volunteers, the figure has moved from 9% to 11%, while the percentage of paid staff reported as disabled has more than quadrupled from 2.5% to 12%. Conditions range from limited mobility and hearing impairment to Dyslexia.

Chief executive, Tom Flood, says:“The results highlight the success of BTCV’s policy to include individuals and groups traditionally under-represented in the environmental sector.”

The figures also show a healthy diversity across the board, with BTCV involving over 80,000 individuals in diversity-related work, with over 20,000 (25%) from a BME background. The survey for the first time also identified 9% of BTCV staff as White but not British, giving a combined total of 12% BME and ‘White Other’, as compared with 7.9% of the UK population.

More information: www.btcv.org/springintoaction