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Birmingham TreePeople, made up of urban forest volunteers, are a fully constituted Community Interest Company. We organise and oversee the Urban Forestry Volunteer Scheme in the city. It was originally set up as part of the Tree Council’s Tree Warden Scheme by Birmingham City Council’s Tree Officers in 2016, and is now one of the largest of its kind in the UK.
Volunteer Categories
People choose to volunteer for a variety of reasons. For some it offers the chance to give something back to their community or make a difference to the people around them. For others it provides a great opportunity to develop new skills, or build on their existing experience and knowledge.
We don’t charge a membership fee for any categories, but we do distinguish between our volunteers and paid staff to provide support services. Broadly, there are two categories of BTP membership:
Paid
> Contracted staff
> Contractors on an occasional basis
> Freelance consultants on retainer
Volunteer
> Occasional or part-time volunteers
> Urban Forest Volunteer
> Specialist Urban Forest Volunteer
Occasional Volunteer
This category doesn’t have specific requirements, and is suitable for those who attend occasional events like our training or planting, to further a specific goal.
Registration is required when attending a BTP event, but wouldn’t trigger the General Data Protection Regulation.
This category also includes corporate volunteers attending and supporting events, such as our tree planting, as part of a social inclusion arrangement with their employers.
Urban Forest Volunteer
The range of Urban Forest Volunteer activities includes:
Championing trees in your local community
Providing early warning of threats, disease, decay, or vandalism
Meeting with like-minded people for training and field trips
Managing and developing the friends’ tree trails
Recommending trees for protection under Tree Preservation Orders to your local authority
Assisting in the management of local parks and woods
Working with local groups and schools
Developing imaginative initiatives, such as tree adoption, encouraging the community to value trees
Undertaking street tree surveys, to determine how well newly-planted trees are doing in the city
See the reel below, from our blog Shade of the Canopy, to get an idea of what our trustees, employees, and urban forest volunteers have been up to recently:
- Women’s Tree WalkKaty Hawkins led an all women’s nature-based workshop in Alum Rock with Women of Worth recently, a sensory tree walk sharing biology, symbolism, and herbal uses. Now that we have received a generous grant from Arconic, we can plant some… Read more: Women’s Tree Walk
- Winners: School Poster CompetitionAnnouncing the Winners Now that St. Joseph’s and Cromwell schools have been notified, and their winning pupils are aware of their posters adorning new trees in their ward, we can announce the winning posters online! Yesterday, Katy Hawkins walked around… Read more: Winners: School Poster Competition
- 65 Poems for 65 YearsTHE ZEPHANIAH FOREST: 65 POEMS FOR 65 TREES FOR 65 YEARS We are calling for submissions for our Benjamin Zephaniah legacy forest poetry competition! We are asking all of you creative Brummies to submit a poem on the theme of… Read more: 65 Poems for 65 Years
Requirements of an Urban Forest Volunteer
For us to register you as one of our Volunteers, you must have attended an induction session run by BTP. We have to store your contact details for our insurance purposes, that’s why enrollment form (below) agreement must be filled in and signed. You’ll be asked to attend a minimum of one BTP training session every 6 months, and support at least one organised tree event every 12 months.
The Do’s and Don’ts
Always remember: whilst all volunteers are valued volunteers, Urban Forest Volunteers are not (in most cases) qualified tree experts, and do not have special authority or jurisdiction. Please see the drop-down below on how to stay safe:
Appendix: Keeping Yourself Safe
As an urban forest volunteer, you should NEVER:
• Enter private land without the owner’s agreement, even if this is to carry out simple tree maintenance activities such as removing tree ties or carrying out hedgerow or tree surveys.
• Advise whether a tree is safe: if it falls you would be liable, and you are not insured for this. This is the role of a professional arborist/tree officer.
• Undertake practical work without appropriate training and permissions or outside your physical ability.
• Attempt to handle tree disputes yourself or antagonise situations, trees can be an emotive subject and there are many reasons why people may not like trees just as there are many reasons why Tree Wardens love trees! Remember this is the local community in which you live so act reasonably and be willing to listen and compromise. If in doubt, refer to your local authority Tree Officer.
• Carry out chemical weed control without having completed the certificated training.
• Use a chainsaw without having completed the certificated training or without insurance.
• Carry out work on trees that could result in the disturbance of or destruction of wildlife during their breeding/nesting season.
• Bring your Volunteer Network, Birmingham TreePeople, into disrepute.
The Role of a Volunteer
The Volunteer Scheme gives people who feel that trees matter an opportunity to champion their local trees and woods, by carrying out or encouraging practical projects and involving their neighbours, as a central part of the scheme.
Urban forest volunteers work with local authority and conservation bodies, who are fundamental to the scheme’s success. This can include coordinating local events, offering practical advice, and providing training.
Specialist Urban Forest Volunteer
The requirements for Specialist Urban Forest Volunteer are the same as the criteria for an urban forest volunteer, but with additional training. This training can come from external sources, but also through our Level 2 Arboriculture programme, and soon we will also be running a Level 4 Arboriculture course.
The range of Specialist Urban Forest Volunteer activities includes:
Working with your tree officer to provide comment on applications for works to trees subject to a Tree Preservation Order or in Conservation Areas
Surveying trees and gathering information about them
Setting up tree nurseries using seeds collected locally
Any other qualified-level work beyond basic
Leading guided tree walks and giving talks to local groups
Structural pruning of newly planted trees and young tree maintenance tasks, like stake/tie removal, mulching, watering, etc.
Liaising with your Tree Officer about proposed developments that impact trees and monitoring development sites to ensure the tree protection measures are adhered to
Urban Forest Volunteer Training
The training requirements are delivered by BTP, and are included as modules in our monthly training. The updated schedule is out now for 24-25.
BTP provides a paid L2 Arboriculture course that further builds on the free training. If volunteers would like to go the extra mile.
Convinced? Sign up below, or download the form here:
Urban Forest Volunteer Application Form
If you’d like to become a volunteer, please complete this form.