BTCV - the
British Trust for Conservation Volunteers - remarkably celebrates its
50th birthday in February 2009
meaning that it's spent half a century, in its own words, 'inspiring
people and improving places'.
The organisation operates on all sorts of levels, both at home and
abroad, but its mission is to conserve the landscape through a
combination of regular conservation tasks undertaken by volunteer
groups, through its excellent UK and international conservation
holidays, the BTCV Green Gym and more.
It's a birthday message
from the Queen of Gardening...
We've actually been on a BTCV holiday in the past and it's a brilliant
way for walkers and climbers to put something back into the landscape
by, say, repairing a badly eroded mountain path - there's a track above
Goats Water with our crowbar marks on it - or rebuilding a crumbling
dry-stone wall. It's also a great way of meeting new people from all
sorts of backgrounds.
The whole thing started back in 1959 as The Conservation Corps, which
was set up to provide a workforce for the recently created national
parks. By 1970 it had evolved into BTCV and become a charity in its own
right.
Currently around 300,000 green volunteers a year work with the
organisation to improve their surroundings both in town and country.
Tom Flood, BTCV’s chief executive, says: "So much has changed
in the first fifty years of our history, yet our core values remain the
same – to inspire people and improve places. We want to
celebrate our first 50 years by showing what a difference green
volunteering has made and does make to our lives and the environments
we live in: volunteering is the DNA of society.”
Sir David Attenborough, a vice president of the charity, says, "
Volunteering with BTCV brings together people from all walks of life
and gives them a common purpose – to learn about, to
understand and become part of the natural world. They volunteer not
just because they want to bring about change to their local
environment, but because it’s fun – it gets you
outdoors, it makes you fit and you’re learning something new
all the time. BTCV is working hard to make that happen.”
It's a brilliant organisation and one that's well worth getting
involved in, either regularly or on a one-off conservation holiday
where you could find yourself doing anything from footpath restoration
to rhododendron bashing with like minded folk. Or you could even go
further afield with a BTCV international holiday.
Lots more information at
www.btcv.org or check out the
BTCV in streaming video action at
uk.youtube.com
