Youth Volunteering

Our Youth Volunteer Schemes are fun opportunities for young people ages 14-18 to gain practical nature conservation experience in Hertfordshire and Middlesex

What does a youth volunteer scheme involve? 

They usually start in October and sessions run on a weekend day, once a month for sixth months.  

As a youth volunteer you will learn all about the habitats where you are working in e.g. woodland, grassland and carry out different tasks to keep it healthy. You will also learn how to use a variety of hand tools. 

You will meet other like-minded young people and spend time with knowledgeable conservation volunteers.  

Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust have collaborated with local volunteer groups to support them to offer youth volunteer schemes on their patch... 

Youth Volunteering on the Batchwood Estate (St Albans) 

Over the last two years, Friends of Batchwood, supported by Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust have established a youth volunteer scheme for students completing their Duke of Edinburgh Award to carry out practical woodland conservation work on Batchwood Estate. 

Friends of Batchwood is a volunteer group which collaborates with St Albans City and District Council, Countryside Management Service [CMS] and Everyone Active to manage the Batchwood Estate. The estate is a fantastic local resource supporting an 11-acre bluebell wood, habitat to a number of indicator species for ancient woodland.  

The youth volunteers get together once a month for six months and carry out tasks which are for the benefit of local wildlife and include scrub clearance, coppicing and dead hedging. For these tasks they must learn how to use a variety of tools.  

So far 17 young people have completed this scheme, here is what a couple of them thought of their experince:  

‘it’s really cool to see everything you've done in a session and see what you’ve done to help the forest’ 

- Duke of Edinburgh Volunteer, Archie Whitman 

‘Now I feel a greater urge to care for the wildlife surrounding us and preserve it for the future and the better of the wildlife, and the following generations.’  

- Duke of Edinburgh Volunteer, Saharsh Lakshmanan 

Youth volunteering on the River Colne 

In 2024, Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, Rediscovering the River Colne and Community Connections CIC launched a youth volunteer scheme where young people learn and carry out river conservation work along the River Colne.  

Rediscovering the River Colne is a Watford Borough Council led project to improve the River Colne and its’ green corridor for local people and wildlife. 

Community Connection Projects CIC is a not for profit company who carry out land and river management projects in Watford. They work along the river Colne and often collaborate with local schools and community groups. 

Volunteers attend once a month for six months and learn about different methods of river management, become confident using hand tools and carry out tasks such as coppicing, river litter picks, invasive species control and dead-hedging. 

Alongside the scheme, the volunteers have the opportunity to achieve AQA Unit Awards that specifically recognise their achievements and learning while volunteering. 

If you are a young person aged 14-18 interested in getting involved in a local youth volunteer scheme, make sure to check this webpage for upcoming opportunities.  

If you represent an existing group and would like support welcoming young people, please get in touch with our Wilder Communities Officer, Esme Staunton Howe esme.stauntonhowe@hmwt.org