Join us as a volunteer

Volunteering with us is a great way to contribute to action against climate change and biodiversity loss, plus make a difference in your local community. Our 44-acre site includes native deciduous woodland, chalk grassland, wildflower meadow, hazel thickets which will be coppiced, hedgerows, and a pond - all vital habitats providing resources for a wide range of species. The site is also a space for the local community to enjoy, learn about, gain understanding of, and connect to the natural world, through the events, sessions, and activities we run (or just by going for a walk!).

Our volunteers tend to the wood, raise and care for the trees in the allotment nursery bed, sow and grow the wildflowers to be planted in the wood and elsewhere, get involved in events, and do a lot of behind-the-scenes work. Regulars find they experience improvements to health and wellbeing as a result of working outside with nature and undertaking physical activity.

Any spare time you can offer - whether it's an hour or a day, once a week or once a year - is greatly appreciated. Every time you volunteer you contribute to making a positive impact on the woodland, our local community, and the national and global environment. If you would like to volunteer or to find out more, please email Abbey Sadler or go to our contact page.

By volunteering your time, you automatically become a member of Andover Trees United. We encourage all members to contribute to decision-making and play as active a part in the running of the charity as you are able to. There are no membership fees.

Sign Up to Volunteer

If you have already been in touch and are keen to start, please complete our Volunteer Registration Form by clicking the button below. Or if you would prefer to complete a paper copy please download it here and email it to us.

Please do not be put off by the questions, it is helpful to have the information to let us know when you are available and the sort of things you are interested in.

DBS checks
We currently have funding for DBS checking volunteers and will arrange this for you if you do not already hold a current certificate.

No experience?
If you are not an experienced gardener but are keen to learn and have time to spare, we can team you up with those who are.

Volunteer Conservation Days

If you enjoy practical outdoor work such as gardening, growing, practical conservation tasks, and maintenance work, then we have our Volunteer Conservation Days are for you! Tasks vary throughout the year - see our Digging It blog for recent activities. No experience is necessary, new volunteers are supported.

Monday Workdays: 10am to 1pm, every Monday
Saturday Community Workdays: 10am to 2pm, second Saturday of the month

At the allotment we look after surplus tree whips between planting seasons and raise trees and wildflowers from seed. In the wood routine tasks include beating up (replacing tree whips that have died), mulching, replacing lost number tags, and carrying out essential repairs. In schools we help to maintain nursery beds, often supporting teaching staff and their pupils.

Details for each event, dates and locations may be found in the Events Calendar

Schools’ Planting Weeks

Each year in November/December we hold a three weeks of tree planting for all the schools in and around Andover. Between 2012 and 2021 (with the exception of 2020) around 10,000 local children in total each planted a tree in Harmony Woods, helping to create a community woodland. 2022 was our first Planting Weeks outside of Harmony Woods, at the new Bury Hill Nature Reserve. To fit everyone in, we do sometimes continue across the planting season until mid-March.

Many volunteers are needed every day over the course of these weeks to help with setting up and packing away, refreshments, managing tools, assisting with planting, and all the small tasks that help each day run smoothly.

Please get in touch if you would like to help out.

Wildlife Surveying

Volunteer as a survey assistant as part of our ongoing wildlife monitoring project, Nature in Harmony.

You can also take part in our spring and summer Wild Harmony events, including Bioblitz, moth trapping, bat walks and more!

Contact: Hebe Everington

Corporate and Team Days

We are happy to hear from local businesses who wish to volunteer with Andover Trees United.

Our full list of opportunities for businesses can be found here.

We can offer challenges at all times of the year and tailor activities to suit the size of your group. On each site, there are several tasks to be completed and individuals are able to work in areas of interest or skill. We can provide either half or full day challenges as well as extras such as lunch.

We are happy to come and brief the team at your workplace prior to the event. Ideally, we would like a month’s notice to organise the session.

To see a monthly tasks breakdown, please look here.

Contact: Abbey Sadler

Events Support

We always need volunteers to provide support for our workdays and events - help set up and pack away, provide a warm welcome and refreshments, etc.

If you’d like to meet some like-minded people, or are new to the area - we would love to hear from you!

Behind-the-Scenes

There is also an enormous amount of behind-the-scenes work that goes on to keep the charity running and ensure our work is successful, and we run a range of projects each year. Therefore we also welcome volunteers with many different skills, including:

administration/office support
publicity/PR
website maintenance
social media
news articles and press releases
IT/tech
event organisation and support
art and design
green/woodland crafts
photography
musical interest

running creative sessions
outdoor learning
legal knowledge
financial and fundraising knowledge
accountancy
plant propagation
ecology/conservation
flora and fauna surveying
leafleting
networking
DIY and construction