Spending 6 days and 5 nights with 11 other Bath students (all strangers) in the Brecon Beacons doing conservation work for the National Trust may not be most people's idea of fun but it was definitely a trip of a lifetime for us last year!! This volunteer group is dedicated to encouraging social and cultural awareness and promoting cross-cultural interaction in the spirit of serving the community.
Thanks to the Volunteer Centre and the whole Pro-Experience team, the money for the transport is raised through various fundraising events throughout February and March, and the National Trust provides the accommodation (at their base camp, Dan-y-Gyrn), so the only cost for us, the volunteers, is our food and clothing. There will, however, be some customary socials so that we aren’t complete strangers when we go!
The National Trust access warden, Rob Reith, will be guiding our work for our 6 days. So what will we be doing?
We will be reducing the effect of erosion on the vegetation around the footpaths in the Brecon Beacons and maintaining the natural beauty of the area.
We will do this by redefining a footpath through digging ditches, smoothing the ground and landscaping the area.
All the tools are provided by the National Trust, which will be carried up the mountain to our worksite in an alpine tractor named Caron. After an invigorating 40 minute walk up the mountain, we will be ready to dig in (literally!). The work can be quite varied; last year we had to put our skills to the test to build a barbed wire fence for keeping ponies in their field. As most of us will have no previous experience of conservation work, we will be shown how to use the tools, and with Rob and his colleague's help and supervision the work can be done, in our experience, to a very high standard.
So if you are bored with sitting at home and not doing anything exhilarating over the holidays, here is your chance to change that!!!!
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
For more information, Contact: proexperience09@googlemail.com
We will be holding an information session for all those interested in learning more:
29th October 2008
At 14.15 (2.15pm)
In room 5W 2.1
or join us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40974560287