Volunteer John Barron has (educational) fun with the National Trust

By Julia Pearlman

The best part of my school education was the time spent outside of the classroom. Days out to museums; field trips to nature reserves; searching for inspiration for art classes; visiting historical places and learning about creepy crawlies - better than triple maths, any day.

But why should learning about nature have to end when you get older, or be restricted to school times and The National Curriculum?

Visiting a National Trust venue is the perfect place to go to get away from any hustle and bustle of town life, get closer to nature, and step back in time.

But it's not just about personal discovery; The National Trust has pledged to focus on its learning opportunities for people of all ages. The organisation wants visitors to learn about the countryside and cultural heritage, as well as be a space for people to relax in and enjoy.

In the summer time, you can take in the gardens or cool down by taking a peek at the exhibitions. In the colder months, there are still plenty of things to see and do - from bat walks to craft workshops, talks and presentations - all run with the help of The National Trust's large family of volunteers.

Morden Hall is one of the The National Trust's real treasures, consisting of 300 historic houses and gardens and 49 industrial monuments. One day I just happened to be passing and thought I would pop in and see what sort of things I could learn. Okay, I tell a lie, it was a lovely sunny day and the perfect excuse to escape from the office. I also wanted to find out how The National Trust goes about fulfilling its promise of creating opportunities that 'lead to life-changing experiences' and what role volunteers have in making this happen.

From toddlers to pensioners

I discovered that volunteers work with every age group - from toddlers to pensioners. Some visitors come only once, others are members of weekly groups that help to plan their own activities. For the over-55s that might include sharing hobbies, themed parties, music soirees, and arts and crafts. Children's activities vary from designing and creating artwork using recycled materials, to investigating rivers and discovering animal habitats.

Morden Hall is surrounded by parkland covering over 125 acres and sits on The River Wandle. There's wetland, meadowland and woodland as well as the old Snuff Mill, various bridges, old estate buildings and rose garden with over 2,000 roses scattered across it. The venue also boasts an environmental centre, information room and craft workshops to benefit schools and community groups of all ages and abilities.

Lisa Green is the Education and Community Officer at Morden Hall. She told me there is a volunteer education assistant to help her with visits and events. "This isn't necessarily a regular slot, she explained. "They might just be a pair of hands to help with holiday activities during the week. I have three volunteers that come in every week and take up a particular role. This could be a teacher, media/PR and general help."

"We get a range of people volunteering," Lisa added. "Some are just out of college and want some experience in environmental education. Then there are people that are retired and want to come during the week or the weekend. At the moment our oldest volunteer is 70 years-old."

As well as an education assistant, Morden Hall, and many other National Trust houses, takes on volunteers in a number of roles, including room stewards, event assistants and raffle ticket sellers.

"We have around 10 to 15 volunteers split across the roles," Lisa explained. "Our aim is to open the Snuff Mill more often, but for this to happen we need to get more volunteers involved."

And so there it is. If more of us could spare a few hours a day, there would be far more things available to do on our days off to make a change from the norm and provide a fun solution to any "I'm bored" moments.

Search the do-it.org.uk database  for environmental education volunteering opportunities in your area.

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