A day out the office volunteering at a farm

There are many benefits of working for the Lake District National Park Authority, one of them includes having up to three paid days per year volunteering within the community. Claire, People Assistant, took the opportunity to volunteer and has shared her experience.

My volunteering diary

Every two years the Westmorland County Agricultural Society hold farm open days on a dairy farm in Levens, aimed at educating children about farming, food and nature. This hugely popular event has been running bi-annually for the last 24 years, kindly hosted by the Mason family.

Over two days in June, around 1,700 school children visited the farm, taking part in various activities and demonstrations on a trail around the farm. This year, over 100 volunteers helped each day to ensure the smooth running of the event: managing stations and showing groups round the farm, along with setting up and packing away before and after. I volunteered during these two days:

Day one: I showed a group of 14 children from a school in Barrow-in-Furness around the farm. We saw pigs, rare breed sheep, a sheep being sheared, the milk cows, milking parlour and dairy, and we even got to see a calf being born!

Day two: I didn't have a group to take round this time, but I assisted with the arrival of the busses, making sure that the children put their bags in the correct place, and were where they needed to be for their briefing before they started. I also helped to provide the refreshments for the other volunteers throughout the day. We also took the marquees down and cleared the farm of all the equipment at the end of the day.

I feel grateful to work for an organisation which supports volunteering, to support events like this.

Join Claire and other colleagues who share a vision in a landscape like no other. Find your next career at the Lake District National Park Authority and enjoy benefits like having volunteering days to support a local charity, learn new skills or explore a hobby.

Learn more via our website: Careers and job vacancies in the Lake District, Cumbria.