Volunteer Role Summary
Gardener - Purbeck
What is a VolunteerGardener?
Working as part of a team, Volunteer Gardeners help with the upkeep and development of the National Trust gardensin Purbeck.
We have a rangeof gardens where clearing and planting are carried out, but the mainactivity is in a newly developed well-resourced kitchen garden which providesvegetableproduce for the National Trust café and tearoom through the seasons.
This is a great chance to get to know the area better and make a real difference to our gardens.
What’s in it for you?
- Becoming part of a friendly and dedicated team
- Meeting people from all walks of life and making new friends
- Getting your hands dirty and enjoying the great outdoors
- Building on and sharing your passion for gardening
- Enjoying new experiences and learning new skills
What’s involved?
- Helping out with the general upkeep of the gardens.This will include:
- tidying up, dead-heading, weeding and caring for borders
- looking after shrubs and plants
- developing and maintaining our vegetable gardens
- Being a friendly face for visitorsand answering their queries
- Maintaining good working relationships with visitors, guests, tenants, and neighbours
- Assisting with the planned development of the gardens by:
- sowing and planting vegetables and flowers
- establishing borders and other garden features
- clearing and pruning overgrown areas
- Following the National Trust’s Health and Safety Policy at all times
This role will suit people who…have some experience of gardening and enjoy working as part of a team. There will be a variety of work from sowing and bringing onflowers, herbs and vegetables to clearing areas and maintaining borders. The role will suit all levels of physical strength and gardening knowledge as there is a wide variety of tasks.
Extra information
Your place / National Trust in PurbeckTime commitment / Once a week or fortnightly if preferred
Volunteer Manager
Staff Contact
(if different) / Rachel Rodman, Volunteer Officer, 01929 452306
Training/Resources
Expenses / Out-of-pocket travel costs between home and volunteering place will be paid, and other reasonable expenses agreed in advance
About the National Trust
The National Trust is a registered charity and is completely independent of Government. We rely for income on membership fees, donations and legacies, and money raised from our commercial operations. We are supported by 4 million members and over 60,000 volunteers without whom we simply could not manage. We protect and open to the public over 300 historic houses and gardens and 49 industrial monuments and mills. But it doesn’t stop there. We also look after forests, woods, fens, beaches, farmland, downs, moorland, islands, archaeological remains, castles, nature reserves, villages – for places, for ever, for everyone.
About the National Trust in Purbeck
The property ranges from the ruins of CorfeCastle in the west to ShellBay at the end of the Studland peninsula to the east. On the southern boundary of the property lies the Purbeck coast with its dramatic sea cliffs and age old stone quarries around Acton and Langton Matravers. On the northern boundary lie some of the best tracts of lowland heath in Britain supporting every species of British reptile.
The role is focused on improving the gardens at beautiful sites across the property.
This role is purely voluntary and this arrangement is not meant to be a legally binding one or an employment contract