Meet Mark Sowerby, Reserve Volunteer at Martin Mere near Southport

Volunteers play a key part in supporting WWT. With our Volunteering Week coming up, we caught up with some of our volunteers to find out why they started volunteering and their experiences so far.

Mark Sowerby volunteers on our reserve. Here is what he had to say about his time volunteering with us:

“Volunteering at Martin Mere has exceeded my expectations in many ways. I started volunteering in July 2022 and from the first day, I was made very welcome by staff and volunteers alike. I was given a tour of the reserve, the team's activities and future plans.

The diversity of work, and the wildlife, add to the pleasure of volunteering, very few days have been the same. I have learned so much about the resident and migratory birds and the importance of diversity within the reserve."

The reserve is over 500 acre of stunning habitats including wet grassland, reedbed, woodland and hedgerows. We manage each of the habitats to benefit the wildlife that relies on the reserve. 25% of wetland plants and animals are at risk.

One of the best parts of volunteering on the reserve is seeing the results of the work we have done. This can be tawny owls using the boxes we’ve put up, Marsh Harriers nesting in the reedbed we managed or Common Terns nesting on the gravel we put out.We could not do this without volunteers.

Volunteering Week
During Volunteer Week from 24 Febraury until 1 March, drop in between 1-3pm each day to talk to our team about volunteering. We have a range of volunteering roles available with no expert knowledge needed - just a keen interest in people and wildlife and a ‘can-do’ attitude. Whether you can spare a day a week, or help us during school holidays, we'd love to hear from you.