Local companies donate 1740 hours

Over the last year over 300 employees from local businesses have come to our nature reserves to help restore nature and improve access for people to connect with our green spaces.

Paul Hodges, our Corporate Relations and Fundraising Officer, explains how everyone benefits from our Wild Work Days.

‘Oooh a frog!’, a shout came from across the field of bracken and heather at Wyming Brook. We crowded round and put it somewhere safe to hop away. This wasn’t one of our young Wild Play groups but a corporate group attending a Wild Work Day; seeing and connecting with wildlife is exciting for all age groups!

Our Wild Work Days are practical conservation days designed for companies to work together, benefit their own teams and support local communities and wildlife at our nature reserves. 

The days start with an introduction about the nature reserve and what the tasks for the day will be. At Wyming Brook, the team from Gripple were welcomed by a buzzard circling overhead, eagerly anticipating our habitat improvements; “welcome to our nature reserve!”

It’s not just nature benefiting from these days. It’s amazing to see the excitement and enthusiasm that the groups bring to the tasks. At Greno Woods a team from Fragomen LLP have created a dead hedge to block a cut through while creating and protecting habitats. Yasmin from Fragomen explained “Everyone works in lots of different departments, so we don’t actually know everyone here. Plus, we all work in the office, sat down all day inside, so it’s nice just to be outside, helping The Wildlife Trust and get stuck in”

Tea and biscuits are never far away. At Greno Woods, Hannah Wittram, our Community Wildlife Ranger, handed out the affectionately named ‘dead fly biscuits’, “they’re shortbread biscuits with raisins, honest”. Hannah continued “We’ve always got lots to do on all our nature reserves so it’s a huge help to get lots of hands to help with conservation, and it’s great for the social and wellbeing side too.”

Laura from Nifty Fox, who have been supporting us with communicating our 30×30 strategy, admitted to their competitive side shining through while battling the balsam at Centenary Riverside, “We bonded as a team and felt like we made a real difference – I think we scared Joe (from SRWT) at how much we were machines and made it our personal mission to clear the biggest area of Himalayan Balsam that any group has ever cleared!”

Why it’s important

Company support is a vital part of our nature recovery strategy, that could be providing funding, volunteers, resources or land. It’s important to recognise that while we rely on the products and services that companies provide, they are reliant on the natural environment. Flooding, drought and insect loss are all a risk to businesses and people are the most important resource of every business; they too rely on nature for health and wellbeing. Companies partnering with us is the perfect way to support the local communities that we are all in, help capture carbon and protect wildlife for us all to enjoy.

Natalie from Gripple UK & Ireland echoed this sentiment, “From a sustainability aspect it is very in line with one of our focuses at the moment. I think all companies have a responsibility to give back to the communities that they work in, and any way that we can help those communities to then make it better, then we should take that responsibility. It makes it a nice day for the team to come together, to team build and bond, and for different parts of the company to come together that wouldn’t normally mix. It makes a change from their daily routine.”

To find out more about how you can book a Wild Work Day or create a corporate partnership with us contact Paul.

Thanks to all the companies that attended a Wild Work Day in 2024:

• Amrita Nutrition
• Arm
• Aviva
• BHP
• BOC
• E.ON
• Environment Agency
• Fragomen
• Gripple
• HSBC
• Nifty Fox
• Our Footprints
• Pell Frischmann
• Porter Pizza
• Steelphalt
• Veolia
• Vp plc
• Wolffkran