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Volunteer
We are lucky to have dedicated volunteers who are involved with a variety of tasks throughout the year – including improving wildlife habitats on our sites, providing visitor information to the public, assisting with events and litter picking.
Our volunteers’ contribution makes a real difference and we are extremely grateful for all their hard work and enthusiasm.
If you have some time to spare, why not come and join our volunteer team, meet new people, learn some new skills, and have some fun along the way!
Help the Rangers
Our Rangers organise regular weekday and weekend work parties throughout the year. These are practical conservation tasks and may include coppicing, reedbed management, hedge laying, infrastructure installation and maintenance, and removal of invasive non-native plants.
The work takes place outdoors, in all weather, so if you would like to come along to one of our work parties please come prepared with waterproofs, sturdy boots or wellies, a packed lunch and plenty of water to drink. Everyone is free to work at their own pace and will be given plenty of guidance.
For more long-term volunteer training opportunities with the rangers, please visit our recruitment page.
Volunteer Wardens
Cotswold Lakes Trust is looking for local volunteers to help manage some of its nature reserves, country parks, and footpaths in the Cotswold Water Park. With over half a million visitors each year, this unique part of the countryside really does require quite a lot of maintenance, and whilst the Trust’s rangers do as much as they can, they always need some extra eyes and ears, and willing pairs of hands.
If you can spare an hour or so each week – or more if you’re really keen – and enjoy being in the outdoors, then you might be just who we’re looking for. We have a variety of sites requiring a range of basic maintenance jobs, from just keeping an eye on things, to some light pruning, litter picking, or banging in the occasional nail…. Why not combine it with a nice walk, or a spot of birdwatching? There’s no need to bite off more than you can chew, but you’ll be helping the rangers enormously. Training and induction will be provided, along with access to any basic tools that might be required.
Visitor Information Volunteer
We have a team of passionate and enthusiastic volunteers who staff the Visitor Centre located next to the Old Boat House in the grounds of the De Vere Cotswold Water Park, South Cerney.
The role involves providing a welcoming visitor experience, helping visitors to understand and navigate the Cotswold Lakes and explaining the work of the charity.
There are thousands of visitors who come to the Cotswold Lakes each year so the Visitor Centre can get busy at times. You will be working alongside another Cotswold Lakes Trust volunteer and you will deal with the many and varied enquiries about the local area, which will include walking and cycling routes, accommodation and advice on local leisure businesses.
Find out more about becoming a Visitor Centre volunteer (PDF).
Event Volunteer
The Trust organises a variety of fundraising events throughout the year including a spring ball, activities trail and 10k run. There are several roles available ranging from set up, serving refreshments, registration, car park marshalling, route marshalling and ticket sales. We rely on the help of our volunteers to assist running some of the events and welcome new volunteers to our events team.
Litter Pickers
Some of our sites can get very busy and as a result there is often a large amount of rubbish left behind, particularly in the summer months. Not only is this littering an eyesore to locals and visitors, but it can also be harmful to animals and negatively affect their natural ecosystem. Whilst our Ranger team regularly clear up the rubbish, we always welcome more help and our litter picking volunteers enjoy being able to make a valuable contribution and a positive impact in their local area. We can provide the litter grabbers and black bags if you can spare some time to volunteer.
Work experience
We receive a large number of requests from school pupils and students about work experience opportunities, but as we are a very small organisation it is not possible for us to find placements for everyone. Sorry but we are not able to offer any work experience for students under the age of 18.
However, we do occasionally offer volunteer work placements for students (over 18) looking for relevant experience, so it is always worth sending us an email to find out more.
Get in touch
If you have any questions about any of our volunteering opportunities, please contact info@cotswoldlakestrust.org
Please note our volunteering opportunities are only available to over 18s.
Corporate team days
Find out more about corporate team days for your organisation.