Volunteers play an important role in the everyday workings of the BRERC office. One of our volunteers, working half a day per fortnight for the last 10 years, has entered over 30,000 records - thats over 3% of the one million records in our main database!
Volunteers don't just do data entry though. Many perform valuable work using our GIS mapping system, organising events, writing guides and articles - sometimes even computer programming! A wide range of skills are applicable to the work we do - and which we couldn't do without voluntary help.
Opportunity for organised voluntary survey work is very limited; at present most of our volunteering is office based. We do however hold regular internal and external training days, which all are welcome to attend.
For those looking to gain experience of the working of an Environmental Records Centre, and of the wider environmental community, BRERC is the ideal place to volunteer. Whilst we cannot guarentee offers of paid work, a large proportion of our volunteers have had the opportunity to either apply for paid positions within BRERC or have found work elsewhere. Their experience gained through voluntary work at BRERC is an important factor in this.
If you are not looking for paid work or career development, many of our volunteers come to us for different reasons, ranging from a love of wildife to a desire to widen their social circles. This creates a friendly and relaxed atmosphere within the BRERC office, and means our volunteers are of a good demographic mix.
Volunteering mainly takes place in the BRERC office during normal office hours during the week. Volunteering at evenings and weekends is, unfortunately, not possible on a regular basis.
BRERC is a small organisation with 3 members of full time staff and one part time member of staff. Whilst we welcome, and indeed rely on, volunteers to help us with our work, we need volunteers to be able to offer some kind of reassurance that they are able to volunteer on a regular basis for a period of at least a few months. We ask this because as a volunteer you will not gain or retain the knowledge needed to volunteer without this commitment, and we don't wish to use our time or yours ineffectually.
Please include:
a)Your particular wildlife interests or experience;
b)Why you want to volunteer at BRERC;
c)Which days of the week/times you are free and wish to volunteer.
If you can attach a C.V. or similar this is helpful but not essential.
No matter what your skills or abilities, feel free to contact us with regard to volunteering. The positions below are just a guide as to some of the tasks we have identified.
Pond Data Entry VolunteersThere are currently opportunities for people with two hours or more a week spare, to help enter/analyse the results from last years pond surveys at BRERC based in Bristol Central Library. Full training will be given so no experience is necessary. It would be great experience and a chance to see how Biological Record Centres operate and what happens to all the pond data that has been collected.
Data Entry VolunteersBRERC has just over a million records on a 'main' database, but there are an estimated further two million to enter, with more being provided to us all the time! The data ranges from single records of birds, butterflies and mammals to whole reports listing many species.
If you like the idea of verifying, entering and checking some of this data, then please do get in touch. Having a broad knowledge of common UK wildlife is definately a great help here.
We use our own database and entry sytems designed in house, and full training is provided on how to use these.
If you are interested in this opportunity then please contact the Assistant Manager, Daniel Marshall, by e-mail or by phone via our contacts page.
MapInfo GIS VolunteersBRERC is looking for a number of volunteers to undertake projects involving our GIS systems.
We use MapInfo Professional GIS systems with Ordnance Survey Mastermap Data and recent Aerial Photos as the base layers to perform all our GIS work.
Training in the use of MapInfo takes some time and so we would ask that any volunteer who wishes to help in this position can commit at least one day a week for several months.
Also, we would request that any volunteer is computer literate to a good level and is comfortable with using Microsoft Windows, Word, Excel, etc, on a day to day basis.
This is an excellent opportunity for university students who hope to go into environmental disciplines that require GIS to get some practical experience of using the system.
If you are interested, please contact the Assistant Manager, Daniel Marshall, via the Contacts page.
Volunteers for Hangstones Pavilion, Yatton - Fridays onlyIf the answers to most or all of the above is 'yes', then BRERC has an opportunity for a volunteer on Fridays at Hangstones Pavilion in Yatton. Alongside a BRERC member of staff, you will be undertaking our usual tasks including handling original paper data, making sure data is properly validated and verified, entered into our database system and checked. In time, there may also be opportunities to work with local wildlife groups to gather data as well as providing them with materials and data to stimulate wildlife recording.
An initial informal interview will be required, and a training day will be provided by BRERC staff to ensure a firm grounding in our general principles. Both these may take place at BRERC's main offices in Bristol.
If you are interested in this opportunity then please contact the Assistant Manager, Daniel Marshall, by e-mail or by phone via our contacts page.