Volunteering in the Countryside

Why volunteer?

• Help improve your local wildlife habitats and make a real difference to the animals and plants that live there.
• Meet new people interested in looking after the countryside.
• Conservation volunteering is a great way of keeping fit, getting fresh air and relieving stress.

All tools, protective equipment and supervision are provided by the countryside rangers. They will also explain how to use hand tools safely and give the reasons for the work being carried out.  Most importantly, they will provide tea and coffee (please bring your own lunch).

Who can become a volunteer?

Everyone is welcome to come along and help us with our conservation tasks, but  under 16's must be accompanied by an adult.

No experience is needed, just plenty of enthusiasm and some elbow grease.

New volunteers are always welcome. 

Please do not attend any of our volunteer sessions if you have symptoms of COVID-19. This includes the symptoms of cough, fever, and loss of taste and smell, but also more generic cold-like symptoms such as a sore throat, runny nose, and headache. We will provide hand sanitiser which we encourage you to use during our volunteer sessions.

What to expect

Spring and summer

Tasks include:

•     removing invasive plants by hand such as ragwort, himalayan balsam and bracken
•     improving paths
•     creating steps
•     installing seats for visitors
•     litter-picking
•     hay-making

Autumn and winter

Tasks include:

•     hedge-laying 
•     coppicing (cutting down poles of hazel and chestnut to regenerate woodland)
•     pulling out stray Scots pine sapling
•     removing gorse and birch on heathland
•     planting trees
•     clearing ponds of excess vegetation

Register as a volunteer

Before becoming a Waverley Countryside Volunteer, you will need to register as a volunteer

Register as a volunteer

More information

To find out more, please contact the Parks and Countryside team, email parks&countryside@waverley.gov.uk or call 01483 523394.

Check out the Waverley countryside locations for more information on our activities and when they take place.

Volunteer sessions normally take place every Wednesday morning from 9:00am – 12:30pm to assist in the management in this historic deer park. Meet at 9am at the locations below, parking can be found at the main car park on Folly Hill (GU9 0AU). Sessions led by Nick.

Dates and tasks are subject to change – please check with site noticeboards or the ranger beforehand by e-mailing nick.macfarlane@waverley.gov.uk

Meeting point map

The map available via the link below will help you find the meeting points each week.

Farnham Park map

Tasks and dates

Wednesday 4 February

Vegetation management: Vegetation clearance and collecting.

Meet at the east of Bishop’s Paddock (L1, w3w///reverted.trendy.victor)

Wednesday 11 February

Vegetation management: Vegetation clearance and collecting.

Meet at the east of Bishop’s Paddock (L1, w3w///reverted.trendy.victor)

Wednesday 18 February

Vegetation management: Vegetation clearance and collecting.

Meet at the Thorny Lea (M5, w3w///surveyed.crinkled.uncouth)

Wednesday 25 February

Vegetation management: Vegetation clearance and collecting.

Meet at Central Pasture (K4, w3w///mega.guises.marginal)

Wednesday 4 March

Veteran oak halo’ing: Remove scrub and squirrel damaged trees from around the drip line of the veteran oak.

Meet at 9:30am. The Old Oaks, SE of Oast House Meadow (H10, w3w///fell.insect.slick)

Wednesday 11 March

Thin oak saplings: Remove sub-standard and squirrel damaged oak saplings to create area of wood pasture.

Meet 9:30am. Central Pasture NW of Deer Pond (J4, w3w///early.soil.fatigued)

Wednesday 18 March

Path maintenance: Widen desire lines and paths, clearing 2m width to allow access.

Meet at 9:30am. SE of Hampton Road Entrance (N3, w3w///cadet.trim.beats)

Wednesday 25 March

Path maintenance: Rake pile of woodchip, remove protective fencing and clear edges of path.

Meet at 9:30am. Far Eastern End of the Avenue (D10, w3w///anyone.career.town)

Wednesday 1 April

Vegetation clearance: Clear Spigot Mortar, remove epicormic growth on limes, widen path edges, clearing 2m width to allow access.

Meet at 9:30am. Bear Lane entrance (A1, w3w///fuses.producing.landowner)

Wednesday 8 April

Path maintenance: Widen paths and remove scrub below row of trees to allow vista through the parkland

Meet at 9:30am. Southern Slopes SE (B8, w3w///priced.tides.zealous)

Wednesday 15 April

Park Lodge maintenance: Tool maintenance/sharpening, using up surplus scalping’s on path, vegetation clearance.

Meet at 9:30am. Park Lodge, Ranger’s Office/Workshop.

Wednesday 22 April

Vegetation clearance: Clear paths and bridges in the locality. Carry out maintenance on the bridges to ensure anti-slip measures are installed.

Meet at 9:30am. Hoghatch Vale North (M3, w3w///escapes.wired.dorm)

Wednesday 29 April

Rolling work party: Widen desire lines and paths, clearing 2m width to allow access.

Meet at 9:30am. Start: N3 (lower Hampton Road Entrance), heading SE along Nadder.

Wednesday 6 May

Invasive non-native removal: Himalayan Balsam search and destroy.

Meet at 9:30am. Halfway Glade (L8, w3w///scary.built.curl)

Volunteer sessions take place every Wednesday from 10am-3pm, except for the second Wednesday of the month when we instead work at Mare Hill Common. Meet at 10am at the Frensham Great Pond Car Park off Bacon Lane, GU10 2QB, unless otherwise specified in the listing. Sessions led by Darren.

Tasks and dates

Wednesday 4 February

Scrub clearance: Today we will be continuing the annual scrub clearance on the common. Throughout February we will be working on the Flashes, clearing scrub to maintain the open heathland habitat.

Meet 10:30am at Axe Pond, SU 867 402m, w3w///claw.appendix.mentioned before heading off to the work site.

Wednesday 18 February

Scrub clearance: Today we will be continuing the annual scrub clearance on the common. Throughout February we will be working on the Flashes, clearing scrub to maintain the open heathland habitat.

Meet 10:30am at Axe Pond, SU 867 402m, w3w///claw.appendix.mentioned before heading off to the work site.

Wednesday 25 February

Scrub clearance: Today we will be continuing the annual scrub clearance on the common. Throughout February we will be working on the Flashes, clearing scrub to maintain the open heathland habitat.

Meet 10:30am at Axe Pond, SU 867 402m, w3w///claw.appendix.mentioned before heading off to the work site.

Wednesday 4 March

Wildlife surveying: To celebrate the end of the winter works season and re-focus on the year ahead, we will be undertaking an informal walk and wildlife survey across the common today. We will start at the visitors centre and head out across the site, to take in the areas we’ve worked over the winter and identify priorities for surveys over the summer.

Meet at the Great Pond visitor centre, GU10 2QB, before heading off around site. 

Wednesday 18 March

Toad pond maintenance: We will be refreshing the areas around the natterjack toad ponds ready for the upcoming season.

Meet at the Great Pond visitor centre, GU10 2QB, before heading off to the ponds. 

Wednesday 25 March

Sand habitat management: We will be maintaining and creating sandy traces in the heath for our sand lizard population. 

Meet at the Great Pond visitor centre, GU10 2QB, before heading off around site. 

Wednesday 1 April

Wildlife surveying: Today we will be checking in on our rare inland walrus population.

Further details to follow

Wednesday 15 April

Spring cleaning: Today we will be undertaking a spring clean of the site, clearing back the winter detritus and making the site look fresh for the summer season.

Meet at the Great Pond visitor centre, GU10 2QB, before heading off around site. 

Wednesday 22 April

Path maintenance: We will be cutting back encroaching vegetation from rights of way around the site. We will be out and about on foot, so please bring comfortable boots! 

Meet at the Great Pond visitor centre, GU10 2QB, before heading off around site. 

Wednesday 29 April

Post and rail fencing: We will be replacing sections of post and rail fencing around the conservation areas at the Great Pond. These areas provide a refuge for wildlife in the busier areas of the common.  

Meet at the Great Pond visitor centre, GU10 2QB, before heading off around site. 

Wednesday 6 May

Wildlife surveying: Further details to be confirmed

Wednesday 20 May

Post and Rail fencing: We will be replacing sections of post and rail fencing around the conservation areas at the Great Pond. These areas provide a refuge for wildlife in the busier areas of the common.  

Meet at the Great Pond visitor centre, GU10 2QB, before heading off around site. 

Wednesday 27 May

Bracken control: Following last year’s trials, we will be putting our learnings to good use and will be starting a programme of bracken pulling to help keep this potentially invasive species in check.

Meet at the Great Pond visitor centre, GU10 2QB, before heading off around site.

Wednesday 3 June

Wildlife surveying: Further details to be confirmed

Wednesday 17 June

Bracken control: Following last year’s trials, we will be putting our learnings to good use and will be starting a programme of bracken pulling to help keep this potentially invasive species in check.

Meet at the Great Pond visitor centre, GU10 2QB, before heading off around site.

Wednesday 24 June

Litter picking: Today we will spend some time litter picking the wider site; we will aim to get away from the Great Pond to other less frequently picked spots around the Common.

Meet at the Great Pond visitor centre, GU10 2QB, before heading off around site.

Wednesday 1 July

Bracken control: Following last year’s trials, we will be putting our learnings to good use and will be starting a programme of bracken pulling to help keep this potentially invasive species in check.

Meet at the Great Pond visitor centre, GU10 2QB, before heading off around site.

We are running a couple of sessions on these historic water meadows in the heart of Godalming. Meet 10am at the entrance gate to Overgone Meadow, off Bridge Road, w3w///jets.lazy.among, SU 9735 4417. Sessions led by Lucie.

Tasks and dates

Tuesday 16 June

Himalayan balsam pulling: We will be pulling up invasive non-native Himalayan balsam.

Tuesday 14 July

Himalayan balsam pulling: We will be pulling up invasive non-native invasive Himalayan balsam.

All tasks are 10am – 3pm unless otherwise stated, though there is no requirement to stay all day. Meet at the small car park off Roke Lane, Witley, GU8 5NZ (SU 936 399, w3w///once.convinced.ruled). Tools are provided, as are tea, coffee and biscuits. Sessions led by Vicky.

Tasks and dates

Wednesday 11 February

Scrub clearance: Our final day of clearing scrub and small trees from the heathland before the specialist heathland birds begin to nest, and wildlife moves in to the newly-restored habitat.

Wednesday 11 March

Holly clearance: We will be clearing dense holly from the woodland to enable more light to reach the ground, and give other trees the space to regenerate.

Wednesday 8 April

Erosion repairs: We will repair eroded areas around benches and on paths by laying hoggin, a sandy and gravel mix similar to the natural soil, and also carry out a litter pick of the surrounding area. If we have enough time remaining, we can then clear out one of the water retention ponds, assuming that water levels are low enough.

Wednesday 13 May

Bird and reptile survey: We will have an early start and spend the first couple of hours carrying out a survey of the many bird species which can be found on Mare Hill, including a number of heathland specialists. After a short break, and assuming that the weather is favourable, we will then check the many reptile survey tins laid on Mare Hill.

Please note an earlier start time - meet at 7:45am for an 8:00am start.

Wednesday 10 June

Bracken pulling: We will continue with our trial of non-herbicide methods of bracken control. We are in the third year of our trial, and the effectiveness of the methods we are trialling should be starting to become apparent. We will re-visit the area of bracken we have pulled over the previous two summers, and pull or trample any fronds which have re-grown. The objective of our efforts is to prevent the bracken from spreading at the expense of the valuable heathland vegetation.

Wednesday 8 July

Invertebrate survey: We will be joined by an invertebrate expert to search for and learn about the obscure, inconspicuous but fascinating specialised insects which make Mare Hill their home.

Wednesday 12 August

Pond clearance and bracken pulling: Assuming that water levels are low enough, we will take the opportunity to clear accumulated winter debris from the water retention ponds at the bottom of the site. Once finished, we will continue with the bracken pulling started earlier in the summer.

Tasks and dates 2026

Sunday 8 February 

Cherry laurel clearance: This volunteering event has now been CANCELLED.

Volunteer sessions take place on the second and last Wednesday of every month, from 10am - 3pm. Sessions led by Lucie.

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Tasks and dates 

Wednesday 11 February

Scrub clearance: Removing Scots pine, silver birch and gorse to maintain the heathland in a suitable condition for the specialised wildlife found here.

Meet at 10am at the Blackheath Lane car park, GU4 8RB, or at the work location TQ 039 460, w3w:///yards.contoured.decoder

Friday 25 February

Scrub clearance: Removing Scots pine, birch and gorse to maintain the heathland in a suitable condition for the specialised wildlife found here.

Meet at 10am at the Blackheath Lane car park, GU4 8RB, or at the work location TQ 042 460, w3w:///refills.vineyard.massive

Wednesday 11 March

Sand habitat management: We will be maintaining and creating sandy traces in the heath for our sand lizard population.

Meet at Blackheath Lane car park, TQ 0364 4619, w3w///sharpness.donates.workroom, before heading out on site.

Wednesday 25 March

Sand habitat management: We will be maintaining and creating sandy traces in the heath for our sand lizard population.

Meet at Littleford Lane car park, TQ 03494570, w3w///buggy.shepherdess.volcano, before heading out on site.

Wednesday 15 April

Main paths maintenance: We will be cutting back encroaching vegetation from the paths.

Meet at the layby off Littleford lane, TQ 0337 4581, w3w///decades.trembles.investor, before heading out on site.

Wednesday 29 April

Reptile survey: We will walk the reptile survey transect route, recording any reptile encounters.

Meet at Littleford Lane car park, TQ 0349 4570, w3w///buggy.shepherdess.volcano, before heading out on site.

Wednesday 13 May

Bracken control: We will be carrying out control measures on potentially invasive bracken.

Meet at the work site near the war memorial, TQ 0363 4635, w3w///compound.suits.thrilled.

Wednesday 27 May

Bracken control: We will be carrying out control measures on potentially invasive bracken.

Meet at the work site near the war memorial, TQ 0363 4635, w3w///compound.suits.thrilled.

Wednesday 10 June

Bird survey: We will conduct a bird survey across the site.

Meet at Blackheath Lane car park, TQ 0364 4619, w3w///sharpness.donates.workroom, before heading out on site.

Wednesday 24 June

Bracken control: We will be carrying out control measures on potentially invasive bracken.

Meet at the work site off Sample Oak Lane, TQ 0311 4632, w3w///rewriting.caked.blink.

Wednesday 8 July

Bracken control: We will be carrying out control measures on potentially invasive bracken.

Meet at the work site off Sample Oak Lane, TQ 0311 4632, w3w///rewriting.caked.blink.

Wednesday 29 July

Post and rail fencing repairs: We will be carrying out repairs to the post and rail fencing around the car park.

Meet at Littleford Lane car park, TQ 0349 4570, w3w///buggy.shepherdess.volcano.

Wednesday 12 August

No task today.

Wednesday 26 August

No task today.

We are running a couple of weekend sessions to maintain this village pond.

Tasks and dates 2026

No tasks

These sessions are usually on the first and third Tuesday of the month, and run from 10am - 1pm. Sessions led by Lucie.

Upcoming tasks and dates 

Tuesday 4 February

Scrub clearance: Clearing holly and bramble from the woodland, and then using the cuttings to top up a dead hedge.

Meet at 10am at the entrance to Slip of Wood, GU6 7BE.

Tuesday 17 February

Scrub clearance: Clearing holly and bramble from the woodland, and then using the cuttings to top up a dead hedge.

Meet at 10am at the entrance to Slip of Wood, GU6 7BE.

Tuesday 3 March

Wildlife corridor maintenance: We will cut back bramble from around the insect hotel, and reduce the bramble patch near the wildlife corridor.

Meet at the wildlife corridor off Summerlands road, between Peregrine road and Harrier road.

Tuesday 17 March

Pond path maintenance: Cut back encroaching vegetation on the path around the pond.

Meet at the wildlife pond off Kiln Copse, GU6 7BW.

Tuesday 31 March

Path maintenance and bird survey: We will be cutting back encroaching vegetation from the foot paths around the site. This will be followed by a bird survey to identify species using the habitat across the estate.

Meet at the end of Rydelands, near the Community Orchard, GU6 7DX.

Tuesday 14 April

Pond path maintenance: We will be replenishing the woodchip on the path around the pond.

Meet at the wildlife pond, off Kiln Copse, GU6 7BW.

Tuesday 5 May

Hedgerow maintenance: We will be adding mulch to the base of the hedgerow.

Meet at the Community Orchard, GU6 7DX.

Tuesday 2 June

Path maintenance: We will be cutting back vegetation encroachment from the paths around the site.

Meet at the end of Rydelands, near the Community Orchard, GU6 7DX.

Tuesday 7 July

Wildflower and butterfly ID: We will try to identify the various plant species within the wildflower meadows, as well as identify any butterfly species we encounter.

Meet at the end of Rydelands, near the Community Orchard, GU6 7DX.

There will be no volunteering sessions at Summerlands in August.

Tasks and dates 2026

No tasks

Tasks and dates 2026

No tasks

Tasks and dates 2026

No tasks

Tasks and dates 2026

No tasks

 

Tasks and dates 2026

No tasks