The North York Moors National Park recently spoke with a very special volunteer, Ailish Colling, who has been a part of the North York Moors volunteering network since a very early age.
During #iWill week, we wanted to reflect with Ailish upon her journey as a volunteer, the experiences she has gained, and where she hopes this may take her in the future. Hear Ailish's story below:
"Hi, my name is Ailish, and I am a volunteer for the North York Moors National Park.
My journey began back in 2014. I was eleven, and my family joined the Park’s Explorer Club. We did a lot of different activities but my main memories are of cleaning drainage ditches on a breezy day at Captain Cook’s Monument, and building sandcastles at Boggle Hole after a litter pick. I can’t believe it was eight years ago! We still have the scrapbook all the families were encouraged to make, and our magnet with the picture of the Explorers at Roseberry Topping up on our fridge!
Being in Explorers gave me my first taste of doing practical conservation tasks and the joy of completing them with other like-minded people. We always explored as a family but now we had an opportunity to look after special places too.
But what next? We were always welcome to go back and volunteer with Tammy, but me and my sister felt as though we were getting too old, and wanted new challenges. As is often the case though, the focus was on young children and families, and at the time the next thing young people could do was join as an adult volunteer at 18.
Luckily however, the Young Rangers group was set up in 2017. We do all sorts of things like bracken bashing, footpath maintenance and of course fire lighting and toasting marshmallows! Though it was disrupted by Covid, I have still felt the big impact it has had on my life, in terms of physical health, skills and knowledge learnt and also mental wellbeing. As well as feeling myself progress, one of the best bits about being part of Young Rangers has been seeing it grow. When I first joined there was a small core group of young people who attended every meeting, so seeing the large numbers who attended our 5th and 6th anniversary celebrations has been wonderful.
Seeing the positive impact of these groups and experiencing it myself has been very inspiring. I have stayed on as a Youth+ member, to try and help other young people have the same opportunities as I did. I have also become an adult volunteer with the Park, which has seen me planting a hedgerow near Roseberry Topping, and making teddy bear crowns at Danby Lodge, amongst other things. It extends beyond the National Park too, as I enjoy volunteering for the National Trust, and also in a charity shop and a primary school. My journey with the National Park has definitely influenced this, showing me the benefits of being a volunteer, the satisfaction and pleasure of passing on knowledge to others and spending time in the great outdoors. I want to continue to help other young people enjoy the beautiful place we are lucky enough to live in/near.
I felt as though I had come full circle, when last week I helped out on an Explorer’s task in Staithes. It was great to see the group still going strong and providing a start to the journeys of other young people. I am so glad I have embraced all the opportunities the National Park had to offer and can’t wait to see what will happen next!"
Find out more about our volunteering opportunities, here.