Volunteering with Fix the Fells
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By Isabel Berry, Manager: Fix the Fells Partnership
Fix the Fells is a partnership of five organisations(i) and our mission is to protect the spectacular Lake District fells from erosion, by repairing and maintaining upland paths and their immediate surroundings, so as to enhance nature and the experience of those in the fells. Operating since 2001, we employ 18 full time rangers and 140 volunteers, as well as working with groups of external volunteers, via the British Mountaineering Council’s ‘Get Stuck In’ programme and through corporate partners.
The Lake District National Park has never been more popular. Residents, along with 18 million visitors a year, enjoy spending time in the fells of this World Heritage Site. The mountainous landscape, with its combination of fragile peaty and thin soils, plus steep gradients, is particularly vulnerable to the volume of people in the fells. In addition, the increased severity and frequency of rainfall events, due to climate change, has further accelerated rates of upland erosion.
Feet, hoofs and mountain bikes wear away vegetation over time, leaving exposed soils which release carbon into the air and with reduced water retention capacity. Heavy rain then washes away the soils, which end up in lakes, where it can be harmful to aquatic life. Habitat alongside paths is damaged, with knock-on impacts on fell plants, insects and animals. Erosion scars cause physical damage to the landscape and routes become unappealing to use. With the twin crises in climate and nature, and the enduring appeal of the fells for recreation, the work of Fix the Fells has never been needed more.
We cannot manage the Lake District landscape without attention to the impacts of upland erosion on water and carbon. Our rangers are highly skilled, upland path professionals. They use a mix of traditional and innovative techniques to halt and repair upland erosion, manage water, secure carbon, protect habitats around paths and to create a sustainable line for path users. Our team of volunteers walk our routes year-round, keeping them clear and reporting back issues. Our work supports flood mitigation, improved water quality and carbon sequestration, for flourishing fells and enhanced public enjoyment and well-being.
While our rangers are the backbone of Fix the Fells, we are entirely dependent upon the time, skills and energy gifted by our volunteers to maintain the routes we have worked on, and to monitor and report erosion status on routes we have not yet worked on. Our volunteers are managed by the Lake District National Park Authority, as part of their contribution to the Fix the Fells partnership.
Being a regular volunteer with Fix the Fells is immensely popular and each year we have a waiting list of people wanting to join. Potential volunteers can attend taster days in the winter, with the annual application window being in January. Those who are successful then complete a full induction programme, which includes a first aid qualification, navigation training and kinetic manual handling training. Over their first three months, they will complete path maintenance training and benefit from an experienced mentor from within our existing volunteers. With this investment in training and skills development for our volunteers, we seek commitment back, asking all our volunteers to gift a minimum of 12 days of volunteering with Fix the Fells a year.
Our volunteers are a highly motivated and sociable group. As well as delivering over 3,000 days a year of routine path maintenance and stitch-in-time repairs, worth £300,000 in value, they organise a number of special path maintenance days a year with a high social emphasis, including a Christmas volunteering weekend. There is also a team from within our volunteers which manages all the planning and bookings onto the calendar of path maintenance days – which routes need visiting, by how many people and on which days throughout the year. And if that isn’t enough, they also volunteer in roles which support other critical Fix the Fells infrastructure, such as looking after our website, completing statistical analysis for us, and working on specific projects.
In a survey completed in 2021 with 39 of our volunteers, Amion Consulting found that volunteers had developed skills which included improved ability to work in a team, resilience, confidence and leadership skills. 90% of volunteers reported social benefits as a result of their involvement with Fix the Fells, with meeting people and widening friendship groups key. A number of respondents also reported an increased sense of community participation. Nearly two thirds of survey respondents stated that volunteering had provided them with health benefits as a result of being outdoors and being more active, and several also reported mental health benefits as a result of increased social interaction.
For those looking for a career in the countryside, whether in upland path work, or other countryside and conservation careers, volunteering can be a great way to get the skills and contacts you need to secure jobs. Take the example of Caroline, who volunteered with Fix the Fells for several years, before deciding she loved the work so much that she would make a complete career change, leaving nursing, to apply for a ranger role with Fix the Fells. Her Fix the Fells volunteer experience, and other transferable skills from her nursing career, helped her secure the job. Caroline has since climbed the career ladder further, to lead one of our four ranger teams as an Area Ranger with Fix the Fells.
Our volunteers are critical to the success of Fix the Fells and we couldn’t do what we do without them – thank you to each and every one who has volunteered time with Fix the Fells this year, whether through our regular volunteer programme or as part of a visiting group. All that time and skill gifted really does make a massive difference.
You can find out more about Fix the Fells here: https://www.fixthefells.co.uk/
Footnote
i Fix the Fells is a partnership of The National Trust, the Lake District National Park Authority, Friends of the Lake District, Natural England and the Lake District Foundation.
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