Get Stuck In volunteering with the BMC
GET STUCK IN
Get Stuck In events are 1-3 day opportunities for BMC volunteers to give some love back to the landscapes we love to walk and climb in. There are a range of activities decided on nearer the time of the event according to the National Trust rangers who will be teaching you new skills, explaining more about their footpath repair and conservation activities and working alongside you.
There's a very friendly, supportive atmosphere to these events and we welcome volunteers from all backgrounds, faiths and ability levels. As a new volunteer you will be teamed up with more experienced volunteers and rangers to carry out the path repair and/or conservation work.
Why path repair?
Path repair work is massively important to our continued access and enjoyment of wild spaces and it's the reason the BMC's Access & Conservation Trust (ACT) set up the Mend Our Mountains campaign. We have access to 140,000 footpaths and bridleways in England and Wales but - they're eroding fast due to increased footfall and more extreme weather conditions. Path repair work as part of Get Stuck In (funded by Mend Our Mountains) can be as physically challenging as you want to make it, with volunteers digging drainage ditches, moving stepping stones into place, making steps, re-shaping eroded peat hags, landscaping paths and scattering cairns. The conservation work involves clearing invasive, biodiversity-reducing species like rhododendron, collecting plastic tree-guards, clearing bracken to allow newly-planted tree saplings to thrive, and finally, planting carbon-sinking sphagnum moss plugs into soft peat bog with Moors for the Future.
Currently, Get Stuck In volunteering events take place in the Peak District, Lake District and Wales. Basic accommodation, in club huts and bunkhouses with cooking facilities, showers and toilets, is provided on the 2-3 day events. You can also borrow steel toe-capped boots and heavy duty waterproof jackets and trousers free of charge if needed.
Why conservation work?
Many of our precious moorland areas are now being colonised by Molinia grass and Rhododendrons. Although attractive to look at, rhododendrons are an invasive species, which outcompete all native plants, so nothing grows underneath, reducing biodiversity. With heavy rain the bare peat underneath washes away, adding to erosion, reducing quality of drinking water and increasing flood risk. We want to keep the peat on the hill where it stores huge amounts of carbon.
Get Stuck In Volunteering Opportunities
The Climate Project Events
Join us on November 10th for a rewarding day of conservation work in the beautiful Peak District.
The Climate Project Events
Join us for an invigorating day of environmental conservation at the beautiful Winter Hill, a large peatland moor north of Bolton! This is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the preservation of our natural landscapes, meet like-minded nature enthusiasts, and enjoy the stunning scenery. No prior experience is needed – just bring your enthusiasm and a willingness to make a difference.
The Climate Project Events
On Saturday 30th of November the BMC will be hosting a volunteer day and would love for you to join us for a day of high level wildflower planting.
The Climate Project Events
Join us for an invigorating day of environmental conservation at the beautiful Hayfield in the Peak District! This is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the preservation of our natural landscapes, meet like-minded nature enthusiasts, and enjoy the stunning scenery of the Peak District. No prior experience is needed – just bring your enthusiasm and a willingness to make a difference.
The Climate Project Events
In association with Moors for the Future Partnership, BMC volunteers will be planting sphagnum moss in the Snailsden Moor area of the northern Peak District, near Holmfirth.
The Climate Project Events
In association with Moors for the Future Partnership, BMC volunteers will be planting sphagnum moss in the Goyt Valley area of the Peak District, close to Buxton.
Get Stuck In Volunteer Day Reports
Mynediad Dysgwch
This unassuming, bright, green or red moss with lush, almost tentacle-like fronds is hiding five well-kept secrets.
Mend Our Mountains Articles
Did you know that the 140,000 miles of footpaths and bridleways we have access to in England and Wales are under serious threat? The footpaths you love the walk on are disappearing fast before our eyes due to erosion from increased footfall and more extreme weather conditions. Here are 14 reasons why we can't ignore footpath erosion.
Mend Our Mountains Articles
The BMC volunteers have been super busy this summer, with the latest Get Stuck In project seeing 12 of them create a 50m length of stepping stone path to make a more sustainable way through the bog below Tryfan, Eryri (Snowdonia), North Wales.
Cerdded Bryniau Newyddion
This August, 14 BMC volunteers spent two days on The Band in Langdale, Lake District, making repairs to a 100m stretch of footpath in the latest Get Stuck In event, funded by the Mend Our Mountains campaign from the BMC's Access & Conservation Trust.
Mend Our Mountains Articles
BMC member Roy Hammond from Congleton, Cheshire, has now volunteered seven times for Get Stuck In events, funded by the Mend Our Mountains 2024 campaign from the BMC's Access & Conservation Trust (ACT). This summer he stepped it up a notch and led the Get Stuck In Eryri event this June, coordinating a dozen volunteers who stayed in the Lincoln Mountaineering Hut in Deiniolen, North Wales. The group worked for 6 hours during both days, including a hike up to 750m on Glyder Fach on day one. We asked Roy what he gets out of volunteering on the Get Stuck In events for the BMC, and what it's like to start organising them himself.
Mend Our Mountains Articles
If you're a BMC member or if you have made a donation to the BMC Access & Conservation Trust (ACT), you are directly supporting our Mend Our Mountains campaign which is funding Fix the Fells again this year. Your contributions enable rangers like Liam Prior to consistently repair and manage the Lake District paths that we love to walk on. We caught up with Liam on the very popular path up Scafell Pike from Wasdale Head to find out what a typical day in his life is like - it's quite demanding!
News
The Watkin Path up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and the peat hags on neighbouring mountain Glyder Fach have benefitted from BMC volunteer improvement work on the latest Get Stuck In event, 15-16 April 2024. This was organised by Hill Walking Rep Steve Charles and Access & Conservation Officer (Wales) Tom Carrick as part of the Mend Our Mountains project, funded by the BMC Access & Conservation Trust.
Mend Our Mountains Articles
The BMC’s volunteering arm, Get Stuck In, donated £1,500 to Fix the Fells this week to buy footpath repair tools to enable our teams to quite literally get stuck in to fixing the mountain footpaths in the Lake District.
Climate Articles
The sphagnum-planting season has come to an end to allow the ground-nesting birds to, well, ground nest! Thank you to all the volunteers that have helped the BMC to plant over 16,000 plugs of this super soggy, carbon-locking moss this winter, helping to restore the Peak District peat bog.
Further volunteering opportunities with the BMC
We also need volunteers to be Area Reps, Hill Walking Reps and help out at indoor climbing competitions. Check out the full list of volunteer opportunities across the BMC at the link below.