I have been volunteering at Ramsey Heights since completing a Zoology degree at Anglia Ruskin University last summer, but I’m excited for the insight this internship is going to give me about working for the Wildlife Trust!
Insights of an Intern
My name is Claire and I’ve just started a 6-week internship, alongside another intern called Kaitlyn, with the Communities & Education Team at Ramsey Heights.
I have been volunteering at Ramsey Heights since completing a Zoology degree at Anglia Ruskin University last summer, but I’m excited for the insight this internship is going to give me about working for the Wildlife Trust!
Week 1
Commencing the internship during the half-term holiday meant my programme was filled with assisting staff at events. I spent 2 of my 3 days helping to deliver wildlife-themed activity sessions at a nearby garden centre, which involved natural crafts and a nature walk. These offered opportunities to communicate with the children about how to look after and out for wildlife. The children also all came with accompanying adults - which presented opportunities to communicate about the Wildlife Trust: the reserves, the current work, and the event schedule, which was encouragingly received with enthusiasm.
I spent the other day accompanying the Youth Rangers on a visit to assist the reserve management team at Dogsthorpe Star Pit. I was able to show and supervise some of the newer rangers how to use a tool they’d not used before (a bow saw), and it was really rewarding to see them eager to learn and master it so quickly!
Week 2
My second week has been quite a contrast to my first – I’ve been based at the Ramsey Heights office rather than travelling to multiple venues in the area! It was a little overwhelming logging into my new email account at the beginning of the week to find many unread emails and pending induction tasks pending, but thankfully it didn’t take too long to get a grip on them! I then had the chance to attend a big Great Fen team meeting and hear updates about what members of the reserves team have been up to in the last few months – and what they have planned for the coming few months! These meetings facilitate communication between the reserves and education teams – which is important to make sure outreach and work on the ground are delivered in step with one another. This meeting also allowed colleagues to collectively problem solve through their discussions.
My next working day involved assisting with the weekly Forest School group who come from a local primary school. It was a relief to see sunshine (after a lot of rain the day before) and I think the bright weather encouraged the children too – we observed lots of perseverance with activities that they could have easily given up with, such as bridge building with logs across muddy puddles.
The remainder of the week was taken up starting work on some projects I’d been assigned – which include preparing a Great Fen photo display for a local art exhibition and designing a family wildlife trail to go up around the Ramsey Heights reserve during the Easter holiday. These have both required me to put my innovative hat on and consider how I could develop the guidance into something engaging for the audience. I’m looking forward to continuing with these and seeing them develop into end products! I will end my mentioning one of my highlights of the week – a social lunchtime walk (with the Ramsey Heights staff) at the nearby Woodwalton Fen – featuring my first Kingfisher sighting of 2025 (although I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo)!
