Solway AONB volunteers
'The members of the Solway Coast AONB Volunteer Group are aged from 11 to well in to their seventies. The one thing they all have in common is a love and understanding of this special place, and a desire to help others enjoy it too.'
Anna Pollard, Solway Coast AONB
Dedicated volunteers are at the heart of so many conservation-focused organisations. Without buy-in from local people, it would be so much harder for organisations like ours and like the Solway Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to make a difference for nature.
The Solway AONB volunteer group was nominated by the organisation's Project Specialist, Anna Pollard. You might have seen some of the group appearing on our social media before. We regular get beach cleaning updates from volunteer John Gorrill, who sends us his images of his beach finds and his dog, Roly, in front of a triumphant mound of collected litter!
Anna said:
'We couldn’t care for the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty without the help of our amazing volunteers.
From litter-picks on the dunes and beaches, back-breaking boardwalk and path repairs keeping the Nature Reserves accessible, to archaeological digs and wildlife surveys, these guys are up for it all.
Without them we wouldn't have been able to improve the dunes and the ponds at Mawbray Banks for the Natterjack toads, a rare species of toad, which resulted in an outstanding spawning season. They helped at every phase of the Get Cumbria Buzzing project resulting in pollinator havens being created across the whole of the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The members of the Solway Coast AONB Volunteer Group are aged from 11 to well in to their seventies. The one thing they all have in common is a love and understanding of this special place, and a desire to help others enjoy it too. In particular I'd like to say a big thank you to Neil Saunders, Dave Foster, Bernie Ewels and Christine Slater.'
Volunteer for the Solway Coast AONB