The event on Saturday, June 7 at Peasholm Park Community Room in Scarborough has been organised with the help of RSPCA Scarborough and District Branch and will be hosted by the animal charity’s Wildlife Partnership Manager Geoff Edmond and Wildlife Friends volunteer Paul Bateman.
Wildlife Friends is the RSPCA’s popular microvolunteering scheme which was launched in 2023 to encourage people to undertake simple tasks in their gardens and outdoor spaces to create environments that are friendly to wildlife and help support a balanced eco system.
From planting wildlife-friendly plants to creating bug hotels, from leaving food out for hedgehogs and birds to carrying out litter picks, to removing hazards such as discarded angling tackle that could harm wildlife, Wildlife Friends offers volunteers the opportunity to take action at a time when wildlife is under threat more than ever before. The State of Nature 2023 report * found that one in six (16%) of over 10,000 species studied in Great Britain are at risk of becoming extinct, and 19% have declined on average since 1970.
The animal charity wants to recruit 2,500 new Wildlife Friends in 2025 and hopes the Yorkshire event, which is being held during Volunteers’ Week, will attract people in the region who are interested in helping wildlife in their own communities to attend to learn what they can do and also share their own experiences.
Geoff said: “Wildlife Friends is an exciting opportunity for anyone who wants to volunteer to help protect wildlife in their local community. Animals are facing more challenges than ever which is why we’re recruiting Wildlife Friends to join our million strong movement of people who are ready to help animals.
“Whether you have five minutes or an hour of time to spare doing small things, which most of these simple tasks are, can make a big difference to help wildlife. By putting a bird feeder up in your garden, making a hedgehog house or planting some wild flower seeds to help pollinators you are being a Wildlife Friend.
“We want to encourage people to sign up as Wildlife Friends, but we’d love to see anyone who has an interest in wildlife coming along for a chat. It’s an easily accessible venue in a community centre in a nice park and myself, Paul and members of the local branch will be there ready to discuss what ideas people may have to make where they live a safer world for wildlife in Volunteers’ Week.
“We are due to release some super new summer tasks for people who sign up as Wildlife Friends to do. This summer a little kindness goes a long way as like us, animals face challenges as the weather gets hotter. Our wildlife experts have created a series of small acts of kindness people can carry out, to help wild animals.”
Wildlife Friends volunteer Paul, from Rawcliffe in East Yorkshire, is a former park ranger who has expertise in tackling wildlife crime. He says his wildlife volunteering helped him manage chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia that has previously laid him low. He first volunteered with the RSPCA as an Animal Rescue Volunteer (ARV) helping with the transportation of domestic animals and wildlife to centres and vet appointments.
Since then he has organised events to inform people about blood sports, such as badger baiting, including training days where mock crime scenes involving badger setts have been set up. Paul earned a rescue and care award in the RSPCA’s Impact Awards which celebrate staff and volunteers who made an impact on animal welfare in 2024.
“As a Wildlife Friend I’ve completed tasks such as cleaning bird feeders, litter picks and checking drains for hedgehogs. There is a shortage of volunteers in the North and East Yorkshire area and we need more people involved,” said Paul, who has undertaken the National Police Wildlife Crime Officers training course and serves as a local rural and wildlife coordinator for Crimestoppers.
"I get together with other Wildlife Friends around Yorkshire and we meet up regularly to monitor local setts. We drop hay during the birthing season and we have set up cameras, which as well as providing a fascinating insight into the lives of badgers can provide evidence if setts are disturbed.
“Badger baiting is a horrific crime and perpetrators think they can get away with their crimes because they operate in isolated areas. It is essential wildlife lovers and enforcement officers are armed with the knowledge and skills to prove what they are doing.”
The Drop-in event runs from 10.30am to 3.30pm and the postcode address is YO12 7TR.
Members of the RSPCA Scarborough and District branch will be giving out free packets of wild flower seed to all those who attend.
RSPCA Head of Volunteer Experience Brian Reeves said: “We want to inspire everyone to create a better world for every animal and our Wildlife Friends volunteers have certainly taken on that challenge. Everyone at the RSPCA is inspired by the efforts of our volunteers and in Volunteer’s Week we want to celebrate them and recruit more.
“Our RSPCA volunteers are amazing and make a huge difference to animal welfare. We know volunteering can help improve people's mental and physical health, combat loneliness and make people feel valued too, so it's not just the animals who benefit.”
You can sign up as an RSPCA Wildlife Friend at the RSPCA website.