If you love gardens you’ll know they need lots of care and attention. Our volunteers help with the upkeep, development and protection of one of the most beautiful and important gardens in the South West - so visitors and wildlife can enjoy them.
By getting involved, you could…
- Learn more about Knightshayes and the work of the National Trust
- Enjoy the benefits of being active outdoors surrounded by beautiful scenery
- Help preserve gardens and create that wow factor for our visitors today and for future generations
- Develop your own gardening skills and enjoy meeting other keen gardeners
You’d also be joining Europe’s largest conservation charity and the wider National Trust team proudly looking after 780 miles of coastline, over 250,000 hectares of land, over 500 historic houses, castles, ancient monuments, gardens, parks and nature reserves (including lighthouses, villages, pubs and a gold mine!). We are a unique charity welcoming millions of people each year and with a vision to open up places for the benefit of everyone, for ever.
What’s involved?
- Maintaining high presentation standards and good plant health
- Helping the team with everyday practical tasks to keep the garden/parks looking its best e.g. - tidying up, dead-heading, weeding, edging and caring for borders, planting and watering
- Being a friendly face for visitors and answering any questions
- Being part of a varied and enthusiastic team and making new friends
- Supporting the team with a project to rejuvinate the Garden in the Wood
- Helping us deliver our commitment to sustainability
- Being part of a team that may need to adapt and change in response to local needs, National Trust priorities or changes to government guidelines e.g .Covid
We want all our volunteers to feel welcome and to have an equally positive experience when volunteering with us. So, volunteers will:
- Be provided with the necessary induction, training, equipment and reasonable adjustments to do this role well and safely
- Be offered expenses to cover agreed travel costs between home and place of volunteering.
- Have remote access to support, news and rotas via our volunteer website
This role will suit you if you are …
- Enthusiastic about the great outdoors and enjoy some physical activity
- Interested in learning about gardening or have skills you want to share/develop
- Positive, friendly and approachable.
- Enjoy talking to people and being part of a team.
- Happy to volunteer outside – despite the weather!
- Happy to learn from others and adapt, the way you do it at home may not be the way we do it here and sometimes we need consistency throughout the gardens to reach our potential!
All National Trust volunteers will be asked to
- Respect and uphold the National Trust values whilst volunteering with us
- Complete training required of all NT volunteers and any role specific training
- Adhere to relevant policies and processes including safeguarding, health and safety, and equality and diversity