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Dear <<First Name>>,
March is all set to be a real corker - Training is the name of the game through the spring months and we've got a last bit of tree planting to do to get our final conservation sites planted up before the growing season gets going in earnest.
There's still time to book yourself in for our volunteer celebration event in Long Marton. This event is free and you can come along for all or part of the day and join in with anything that appeals - walks & talks, taster activities in and out of the river, an afternoon visit to an amazing conservation site and the golden whistle award - all topped off with a fantastic lunch!
It's great to be able to celebrate the power of the ERT volunteers by ditching the zoom and getting together for real this year - do come and join us on Saturday 19 March
Cheers, Jenni
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Tree planting
Thursday 10th March, 10 am - 3 pm, Scales Farm, Helton
Join us for a mega planting day with volunteers from United Utilities and the Ernest Cook Trust. We'll be planting trees and constructing deer proof tree cages to help them withstand the nibbling that can threaten survival on this fellside site. There'll be a little bit of walking, a bit of planting, a bit of post banging and a lovely site to stop for a well earned picnic lunch.
Suitable for: anyone with a moderate degree of fitness and mobility
Experience: no experience is needed.
Wear/bring: gloves and stout boots/wellies, old warm clothes, waterproofs, drinks, snacks & lunch.
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Hedge planting
Thursday 24th March, 10 am - 3 pm, Dufton
Our last tree planting session of the season. We're heading out to Dufton to help regenerate an old beck side hedge by planting young trees back into all the gaps between the fragments that are still standing
Suitable for: everyone
Experience: no experience needed.
Wear/bring: gloves and stout boots/wellies, old warm clothes, waterproofs, drinks, snacks & lunch.
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Tree Planting Support
Thursday 17th March, 9.30am - 1pm, Crosby Ravensworth and Thrimby
This will be a multi site work party with a quick whizz round a couple of our recent planting sites to prop up newly planted trees that have been knocked over by high winds or livestock.
Suitable for: anyone
Experience: no experience is needed.
Wear/bring: gloves and wellies, old warm clothes, waterproofs, drinks & snacks.
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And we'll be kicking off work parties in April with a 3-day fence removing extravaganza In Crosby Ravensworth. This will take place alongside the fencing training scheduled for the whole week but needs to be booked separately
Work parties will be
Monday 4 April, Tuesday 5 April and Wednesday 6 April. You're welcome to book in for all 3 days for a total immersion fence removal experience!
Suitable for: anyone
Experience: no experience needed
Wear/bring: gloves stout boots, old warm clothes, waterproofs, drinks, snacks & lunch
Book in separately (below) if you are interested in a place on the 5-day fencing training course
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* Volunteer Celebration Event *
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10 am - 3 pm, Park House, Long Marton, Appleby. FREE
This March marks the end of our EU funded WEG (Water Environment Grant) Trout Beck project, so we'd like to invite you to Park House farm, Long Marton (in the Trout Beck catchment) to say 'thank you' for helping to make this another amazing year of volunteering for rivers.
Join us for a morning, just for lunch or stay the whole day. Find out more about the Trout Beck project and how we're planning to continue working in this area, see one of the projects in action and try your hand at some fun (and unusual) volunteer skills along the way!
Morning: volunteer skills hub: traditional rural skills, river dipping. tree ID and river habitat survey walks, hedge-planting, watervoles and more!
Lunch: stay and have a bite to eat with us!
Afternoon: field trip to Flakebridge near Appleby to see our river restoration/NFM project completed as part of the Trout Beck project.
Click on the button to go to Eventbrite to find out more information and book your ticket(s) now!
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Volunteer Training Opportunities
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Water Vole Survey Training
Friday 25 March or Saturday 26 March, Brough
with Michael Rogers, Head of Conservation at ERT
ERT will be ramping-up monitoring of water voles over the next 4 years as part of the new water vole reintroduction project. This training is being offered to anyone interested in taking on a monitoring patch (either in one of our target areas, or at a location of their choosing) to survey between April and June each year.
The course will consist of a 2hr indoor theory session in the morning followed by site based practical survey techniques in the afternoon. Lunch will be provided.
All the information we collect about the status of this endangered mammal in the Eden catchment will be added to the national water vole database ran by PTES.
You can find out more here How to take part - People's Trust for Endangered Species (ptes.org)
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5-day fencing course
Monday 4 April - Friday 8 April, Crosby Ravensworth
Limited places are available for ERT volunteers to join Westmorland Dales apprentices for this week long training course to learn about all aspects of fencing with Belinda Lloyd.
Suitable for: anyone interested in getting to grips with the skills and knowledge needed to do a quality fencing task on our conservations sites who can commit to all 5 training days. You should also be prepared to make a commitment to participate in further volunteer tasks with ERT
Experience: no experience needed.
Wear/bring: gloves and stout footwear, old warm clothes, waterproofs, drinks, snacks and lunch.
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Training for Riverfly Monitoring Volunteers
April & May 2022
ERT are opening bookings for the next riverfly monitoring training course which will take place in May. There will also be a refresher course later on for existing riverfly monitors or people who have already had the training but would like a top up session. The course is free and all learning materials, equipment and waders for training will be provided. There will be tutored sessions and some individual learning across a couple of weeks.
- w/c 25 April: A link to the ARMI handbook guide for riverfly monitors will be mailed out so you can read the information at a time to suit you - and then have a go at the on line multiple choice test (before the guided sessions).
- Monday 9 May, 7.00pm - 8.30pm: Theory session, via zoom, informed by the results of the test and any issues that came out of it.
- Saturday 14 May, 9.00am - 1.00pm: Practical riverside session, Blencow village (tbc).
Suitable for: anyone interested in taking on a role as a new riverfly monitor for sites in the Eden catchment
Experience: no experience is needed.
Monitoring Role: At the end of the course, monitors will be helped to find appropriate sites and sort out landowner permission etc. You will also be able to take home a set of equipment so that monitoring can start whenever all the necessary permissions are in place.
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For more information about our training events please get in touch with us at volunteers@edenrt.org or ring 01768 866788.
Don't forget, places on work parties and training sessions must be booked beforehand.
Please note:
Factors such as Covid restrictions and the Cumbrian weather can have a major impact on safety at work parties and these may therefore be subject to change or cancellation at very short notice.
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Have you booked yourself in - ?
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