Visit Woods is an exciting new project that will inspire people to visit woods for leisure, health, and relaxation. Together with other woodland owners the Woodland Trust is creating the UK’s first comprehensive, interactive woodland website, showcasing almost all UK woods which welcome visitors. The website will offer searchable maps, inspiring ideas, free downloadable resources, and space for visitors to share their photos and tips.
Volunteer ‘Woodland WebGuides’ will be at the heart of Visit Woods; why not help us to develop this new online resource and use it to tell other visitors all about your local woods?
The task
This role combines regular fact-finding visits to woods with weekly work online publicising these sites. As a Woodland WebGuide you will also interact with visitors online when the VisitWoods website goes live, answering their questions and encouraging them to upload their own comments and photos.
Initially this will include:
• Attending our Induction Day and online training
• Testing the new website
• Auditing facilities and features in your local woods
• Taking and uploading photos
• Using Facebook and Twitter to reach new visitors
• Writing a blog about your own visits
Timescale and location
We are currently looking for Woodland WebGuides across England, and as this role combines visits to woods across your county and working online you will be able to take part from home. We estimate that this may take around 4-5 hours per week, and you can help at times which suit you. We will also ask you to join us for one or two training days each year and for regular conference calls.
Because the project is new, volunteer activity in each area will only begin when our regional induction day has taken place.
As the project grows there will be even more ways of getting involved – so if you enjoy trying something new your volunteer role will grow with you!
Experience required/desired
All volunteers will need basic online skills, i.e. able to e-mail and surf the internet confidently. Experience of using social networks like Facebook, Flickr, or Twitter would an advantage but is not essential.
If you already visit woods regularly that’s great, but we also welcome applications from people who are new to woods and people with young children or a disability as your experience will help us to shape VisitWoods.
Qualities required
As you will be visiting woods and communicating with all kinds of people you will need to have:
• an interest in both woods and other people
• the ability to get to, and around, the woods in your area
• the ability to work independently with support online and by phone
• the ability to understand and respect your own limits and work within our guidelines
• tact and patience
Want to know more?
Not sure if this role would suit you? Try our two-minute WebGuide quiz to help you decide whether to apply to be a WebGuide, contribute to VisitWoods informally, or help the Woodland Trust in another way.
If you already know that you would like to become a WebGuide please apply here. We will contact you to tell you more about the project and what happens next. Thanks for your interest!
VisitWoods is a partnership project, led by the Woodland Trust and funded through Natural England's Access to Nature programme, part of the Big Lottery Fund Changing Spaces Programme.
