If you go down to the woods today you’re sure of a big surprise, because you may just find our Virgin Volunteers out and about trying out a spot of strimming and hacking!
Recently, a squad of our team left their usual hang out of the Virgin Balloon Flights HQ to take a trip to Lightmoor Nature Reserve, one of the Shropshire Wildlife Trust’s recently acquired nature reserves. The reserve is used to create a habitat for reptiles and wilcd children, but a main focus of the Shropshire Wildlife Trust is to make it more accessible so that the public are able to appreciate the area more easily.
So, what did we have to do with this?! Our volunteers’ job on the day was to start a project that would create a new hedge in a specific area of the reserve. Before anyone could think of planting anything, there was a great deal of vegetation and small trees which needed to be cleared to make room for this brand spanking new hedge. Here's what the team were faced with on arrival at the reserve... not the prettiest of sights and quite daunting for them too!
Unfortunately, our volunteers weren’t as lucky with the weather this time, however, they powered through and did an amazing job! Using loppers, bow saws and strimmers (not the usual tools used by our volunteers on a daily basis let’s just say!) the team were able to cut down the leftover vegetation and make an area in which the hedge could be planted. Here's a picture of each of our volunteers in action - we think they definitely look the part, don't you?!
Some more of the team will be returning to the reserve in a few weeks to start planting the hedges, so watch this space as we will have an update of how the hedge is coming along and the progress being made.
All of our volunteering is part of Virgin Balloon Flight's 'Love our Landscape' campaign, in which one of our promises is to achieve 100 hours of volunteering in the wildlife and countryside. Will we reach the 100 hours soon?! Keep your eye out for an update soon!