{"id":20,"date":"2022-03-25T13:10:48","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T13:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.1.109\/?page_id=20"},"modified":"2022-12-11T21:23:49","modified_gmt":"2022-12-11T21:23:49","slug":"plans","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/stoke-park.co.uk\/index.php\/activites\/plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer in Stoke Park"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We have an active group of volunteers working with Stoke Park’s Ranger to manage the parkland for conservation and access. Our volunteers get involved in a wide range of activities, ranging from building and maintenance, to wildlife recording and surveys. There are so many benefits to getting involved<\/a> in Stoke Park, including spending time outdoors, meeting new people, learning new skills and making an impact in your local area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volunteer sessions run every Thursday, 10:00am-12:30pm and the first Saturday of every month, 10:00am-12:30pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ongoing activities include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reptile Surveys<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have located a number of reptile mats around the pack which we regularly survey. Grass Snakes and Slow Worms are common finds!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Butterfly Surveys<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have mapped out a transect which we walk weekly from April to October, counting butterflies. The data are then submitted to national butterfly monitoring organisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orchard Maintenance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We regularly work on the orchard (around 210 fruit trees) to tend to the trees and make the fruit accessible to all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Path and Step Reconstruction and Maintenance<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We repair paths, build steps and generally improve accessibility. We also aim to reduce some of the most muddy spots!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hedge Planting and Laying Training<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funding for training was obtained by the volunteers from the Rural Skills Hub. Once completed, we’ll be laying further hedges in the park and will be able to show new volunteers what to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scything Training<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a historical experience, we learnt how to scythe using traditional methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weed Pulling in Preparation for Hay Cutting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’re often pulling ragwort so that certain areas of the park can be cut for hay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laurel Clearance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An invasive species from Portugal in the 17th century, we are in a continuous battle with Cherry Laurel in the park. The only place it should be present is at the Grand Forum in Long Wood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Litter Picking<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever a problem, we often focus on clearing litter and also have a bin bag in tow at all sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tree Planting<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We restore hedgerows and also replant trees where needed in accordance with the history of the park (e.g. in the black metal tree protectors found around the park).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pond restoration and maintenance<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making sure the dew ponds and cart ponds across the park are suitable for the important wildlife they support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’d like to find out more or get involved, please fill our our registration form<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also visit our blog<\/a> to hear from some of our volunteers about the work that’s happening in Stoke Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have an active group of volunteers working with Stoke Park’s Ranger to manage the parkland for conservation and access. Our volunteers get involved in a wide range of activities, ranging from building and maintenance, to wildlife recording and surveys. There are so many benefits to getting involved in Stoke Park, including spending time outdoors, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":162,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stoke-park.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stoke-park.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stoke-park.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stoke-park.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stoke-park.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stoke-park.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":348,"href":"https:\/\/stoke-park.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20\/revisions\/348"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stoke-park.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stoke-park.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}