National Park volunteers offer warm welcome back to Lake District

Our new Visitor Support Volunteers have been welcoming people back to the Lake District with smiles on their faces and a wealth of local knowledge at their fingertips.

I say new, but some of them having been volunteering for 40 years or more with us, but these are newly created roles as many of our usual volunteer activities have been suspended due to the Covid-19 situation.

Sharing local knowledge

Over the past few weeks we’ve welcomed back around 40 of our volunteers to help greet visitors when they arrive and share their knowledge and love of the Lake District. They are all working in a socially distanced way to keep themselves and visitors safe.

Their roles are varied but with the primary aim of making every visit to the Lake District a world-class experience. They help with parking advice and car park management, give information on local walks, attractions and services and everything and anything in between.

Creating a world class experience

We’ve had great feedback from the volunteers themselves as they are delighted to be helping people get the most out of their Lake District experience.

We’ve also had very positive comments from visitors who are happy to have such knowledgeable people to give hints and tips for walks, cycle routes, lake activities and other local highlights.

Additionally we’ve had a great response from our local communities as the volunteers have been helping out with parking and making sure that litter is collected if necessary.

Some other volunteers have also returned 

We’re also delighted to welcome back our Fix the Fells voluntary lengthsmen, who’ve been tackling their usual activities to repair and maintain footpaths in a socially-distanced way. Recently we’ve also seen some of our Information Centre volunteers return in Keswick, adding their impeccable knowledge to our offer there.

I’m really proud of every one of our volunteers who are doing a great job in strange times and I’m pleased with the way they’ve risen to the challenge.

So if you are heading to somewhere new in the Lake District this weekend and you see one of our volunteers be sure to put their local knowledge to the test, they can’t wait to meet you.

Inspired? We are on the lookout for more visitor support volunteers

If you are interested in becoming a visitor support volunteer please get in touch by email [email protected], we’d love to hear from you. Or find out more on our volunteer webpage.

Our volunteers Katy Jonas and Andy Clifford are delighted to be back. Listen to what they have to say: