This is what some of our volunteers have to say about being involved with Transforming the Trent Valley.

 As a new panel member I have been impressed by the imagination, passion and dedication of the local groups to their environment and the determination to engage every member of the community. 
 Sally Aldridge, Community Grants Panel

 Although I have only been a volunteer at Transforming the Trent Valley a short time, I have been able to integrate well into the team and engage with some of the great activities that they have been undertaking.

I help primarily with the Communications Team and have found this really interesting. It has allowed me to gain some real experience of social media engagement and how to interaction from people in the community. Everyone is extremely friendly and what they are doing is exciting to learn about, especially because most of it is going on in the area where I live. 
 Lucy Ford, Creative Content Volunteer

 I have volunteered primarily to put some back into an area that I feel passionate about. I guess this is the same for most volunteers but I like to think that I am helping in a small way. My career doesn’t fulfil every interest that I have and so volunteering helps to fill that space. 
 Tomas Bartram, Community Grants Panel

 Volunteering is a fantastic way to give back to the community that helped me grow and develop. I’ve been volunteering time to various charities and projects for many years now, from working with groups offering time and expertise in my area of interest, through to pulling myself completely out of my comfort zone and working on the bar at a local theatre. Everyone has something to offer, everything – even the little things – is so warmly appreciated and I have met many amazing people along the way. I genuinely believe I get just as much out of volunteering than those I am working with! 
 Tilley Bancroft, Community Grants Panel

 As a retired professional person living in the Trent Valley area since childhood, volunteering enables me to give something back to the local community having experienced the enjoyment and pleasure over the years since childhood.

We are fortunate to have so many attractions at hand with both rural and urban landscapes in a riverside setting with strong historical connections to the past.

Participating with other Panel Volunteers of different backgrounds on assessing local group projects that enhance and benefit the many different aspects of community life gives a sense of satisfaction and wellbeing.

It is so important to be part in some way of helping maintain and promote your local area and be progressive in the process … acting as a TTTV Volunteer is one way of achieving this goal. 
 Transforming the Trent Valley Volunteer

 I wanted to volunteer to get a sense of responsibility that I didn’t feel I was getting from my job, or my life in general. My particular volunteering role has me exploring areas within my skillset that I wouldn’t have done on my own initiative. I really love that it has tested me at a time where I was starting to feel stagnant. 
 Chris Mason, Creative Content Volunteer

We are lucky to have benefitted from hosting a number of student placements and volunteers looking to gain specific work experience. These students and volunteers bring a wide range of skills, knowledge and creativity to our projects, helping us to reach a wider range of people and they also gain valuable work experience in their area of study or interest.

We have been pleased to host students from the University of Derby, Staffordshire University, Keele University, and recent graduates looking for work experience. Here is a selection of the great work they have helped us with:

• Mitchell Lakin supported in the launch of the ‘Big Washlands Watch ID guide and Survey Booklet’, writing blog posts and doing a photo shoot with the resources as well as writing articles for local publications.

• Sarah Coxon supported with the initial groundwork for the ‘Tales from the Riverbank’ project, creating social media posts and recording an interview to share her own memories of playing in the Trent Valley landscape as a child.

• Ashley Lewis conducted some freshwater invertebrate surveys at Hilton Gravel Pits, a site managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, and reviewed historical species data for the site, producing a report on his findings.

• Aliya Manne-Sampson supported the whole team with social media posts, and edited the ‘Burton History Walk’, filmed with Lawrence Oates.

• Keeley Beeston from Keele University has completed a ‘Data Analyst’ placement with us. She analysed the wildlife records that have been submitted to iRecord throughout the scheme to show the impact that our ‘Wildlife Recording Volunteer’ group has had on the number and diversity of biological records in the scheme area. You can download these and read her findings on our ‘Wildlife Identification and Recording Resources’ page.