Lend a helping hand

Your Challenge

Take a look at volunteering opportunities in your local area to see if you could lend your support for a good cause. This could be supporting environmental charities who organise beach cleans, litter picking, tree planting, or rewilding opportunities. You don’t have to limit your options to environmental volunteering; there are many charities out who support people, animals, and the planet.

Visit the UK Government volunteering portal to find opportunities near you: https://www.gov.uk/volunteering

Why you're doing this

For charities, receiving a helping hand can speed up progress to achieving their goals, and enables their limited funds to stretch further. It also spreads the message about their organisation and what they’re trying to achieve.

Volunteering with local nature and environmental charities can help reduce pollution and boost biodiversity through initiatives like litter picking, planting trees and plants, and even installing animal habitats like bird nesting boxes. By lending your support to repair biodiversity loss in your local area, you will see the benefits to nature, like improvements to insect, bird and small mammal populations.

Volunteering also has a range of health and wellbeing benefits, and brings people together, helping to build stronger, less divided communities. The National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) found that 90% of volunteers said it helped them feel like they make a difference, and almost 90% reported it was a great way to meet new people.^[1]

How you'll make a difference

Volunteering is not only good for people, but also the planet. Help protect the local environment and show support for your local community by finding out what options are available near where you live.

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