Volunteer with us

Make a Difference on the Big Wood Estate

The Big Wood Estate is a working landscape in Surrey, where land, water, wildlife, and people are learning to live differently together. The estate is in an ongoing process of ecological recovery — one that asks for patience, observation, and care rather than control. Volunteering here is an invitation to take part in that process.

Volunteering With Us

Volunteering here is not about fixing nature or working at speed.
It is about listening, learning, and tending — together.

This land is in a long process of recovery. Our role is to support that recovery with care, patience, and respect. Volunteers are an important part of this work, and we’re grateful to those who feel called to take part.

Why Volunteer Here?

We believe that meaningful change happens slowly, through relationship rather than force.

Volunteering with us offers a chance to:

Spend time in a living, working landscape
Learn through observation and hands-on experience
Contribute to long-term ecological restoration
Be part of a small, thoughtful community of people who care deeply about land, wildlife, and reciprocity

This is not production-focused work. Some days are physical, some are quiet, and some are simply about being present and noticing what’s happening.

Upcoming Volunteering Opertunities

Hedgerow Habitat

About the Day Hedgerows are living boundaries — vital corridors for wildlife, shelter for birds and insects, and long-term guardians of soil and water. This volunteer day focuses on planting and establishing new hedgerow sections at the Big Wood Estate. Together, we’ll be helping to create habitat that will mature over decades, offering food, protection,…Find Out More

Skilled & Specialist Volunteering

Some areas of our work require specific experience, training, or a higher level of responsibility. These roles support longer-term monitoring, documentation, and coordination, and are often ongoing rather than one-off days.

If you have relevant skills and would like to contribute them in service of the land, we’d love to hear from you.

Wildlife Surveying & Monitoring

Supporting structured ecological work such as species surveys, habitat monitoring, trail camera analysis, and record-keeping. Experience with survey methodologies, identification skills, or data collection is particularly valuable, but thoughtful observation and care are just as important.

Organised Monitoring & Data Collection

Helping to track change across the estate through repeat monitoring, mapping, or structured observation. This might include fixed-point photography, vegetation monitoring, or assisting with data management and interpretation over time.

Volunteer Coordination

Supporting the flow of volunteer days by helping plan sessions, welcome others, and act as a calm point of contact during activities. This role suits those comfortable holding space, communicating clearly, and working collaboratively.

Photography & Videography

Documenting the land and the work through thoughtful, respectful visual storytelling. This can include seasonal imagery, project documentation, or occasional event coverage. A sensitive, land-led approach matters more to us than polished or promotional output.

Other Skills & Ways to Contribute

The work of restoration is wide-ranging. We also welcome interest from people with experience in areas such as education, facilitation, research, writing, mapping, data analysis, ecological design, or other relevant fields — even if they don’t sit neatly within the categories above.

If you feel you have something to offer that aligns with the values of this place, we’d genuinely like to hear about it.

How These Roles Work & Our Approach

Specialist and experienced volunteer roles are offered as needs emerge, rather than on a fixed schedule. Some opportunities may involve an ongoing commitment over a season or longer, while others are more occasional or project-based. We aim to match skills carefully to real needs on the ground, with clarity about expectations and capacity on both sides.

While we strive to support and guide all volunteers, it’s important to be open about the nature of this work. Some of the areas listed require expertise that sits beyond our in-house knowledge. In these cases, we are not looking for people to simply follow instructions — we are inviting collaboration. We see this as an opportunity to learn alongside those with relevant experience, to share perspectives, and to allow the work to evolve through collective understanding.

In other roles, such as photography or videography, involvement may be lighter-touch. This can include an initial orientation to the estate, guidance around sensitive areas, and access arrangements, followed by a high degree of trust and autonomy.

Across all specialist roles, the emphasis is on:

Mutual respect and transparency
Shared learning and exchange of skills
Care for the land, its rhythms, and its limits

This work is not about filling gaps or extracting labour, but about growing understanding together — in service of the land and the relationships that sustain it.