Hello, my name is Archie, and I have been the outreach and education intern for the past three months.
During this time, I have been up to a whole variety of things! From practical work on the reserve, to researching and providing informational packs for the public, as well as enthusing young visitors on the reserve through school visits and after school clubs.
One of my big projects involved giving the bird hide a makeover! I was interested in giving our visitors an interactive element to the reserve and decided that a chalkboard for recording the bird species would be the perfect way. To make sure that everyone could get involved, I also created identification sheets for the common bird species that can be spotted from the hide.
Once this was completed, I was enthusiastic to educate the public on the ways to support our wildlife and created several informational sources that will hopefully educate and encourage others to protect our natural habitat. These resources will be sent to schools and published on our website, and included topics such as keeping our waterways clean, shopping more sustainably, and more!
Alongside creating these information packs, I also created a short video that will hopefully encourage people to visit the reserve and give them a brief introduction to the beautiful wildlife that can be found on the reserve.
The most recent project that I have been involved in, is creating information stands for some of the habitats around the reserve, specifically the reed bed areas. These stands will hopefully educate the visitors to our reserve and help them discover something new. Sadly, my internship will be over before I can help put these up, although I will definitely be returning to the reserve to see them finished.
During these projects, I have also been able to get involved in many other tasks, such as helping on school visits and our nature guardians’ group, who I will truly miss! As well as creating identification guides for the children and getting involved in important citizen science on the reserve. More recently, I have been creating and posting material for our social media, a skill I have developed and has helped me to achieve a permanent role at wildlife world, a local wildlife supporting company.
I must truly thank all the amazing people at Tewkesbury nature reserve, despite it being a small team, everyone gets involved and helps out. Each with their expertise in different areas and come together to make a great team!
