Directory: Environmental Awareness
Durlston Country Park
Durlston Country Park: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday between 10am-1pm meeting at the learning centre.
Shed Sessions: Monday 2pm-4pm, Tuesdays 2pm-4pm, Wednesdays 2:30pm-4:30pm and Fridays 2pm-4pm.
Email us to let us know you would like to join a work party beforehand. Thursday volunteers will need to book on to a dry-stone walling course email for details.
Tuesdays: Pleasure Grounds Project: Enhance the heritage, accessibility, and habitats throughout the Victorian landscape of the park.
Wednesdays: Reserve Conservation: Help care for our stunning National Nature Reserve. Habitat management, scrub cutting, path clearing, hedge-laying, fencing, and more!
Thursdays: Dry-stone Walling: Volunteers help maintain over six miles of dry-stone wall across the Country Park.
We welcome new walling volunteers to get started with a training session held once per month.
Please email durlston@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk for details.
Everyone needs a shed! Durlston Country Park
Everybody Needs a Shed’ was launched as part of the lottery-funded ‘Durlston Pleasure Grounds’ project. It is an accessible community work base which enables people of all ages and abilities to socialise, learn new skills, and volunteer in support of Durlston Country Park.
We welcome people with disabilities, dementia, and other long-term health problems to try a variety of wood-working, gardening, crafts, and DIY projects. No commitment or experience needed – you can even just pop in for a chat.
- Mondays 2pm-4pm – for Cuppa & Chat – enjoy a cuppa and make some new friends in the lovely woodland surroundings. Just drop in and say hello!
- Tuesday 2pm-4pm – join a ranger to help out with practical tasks to support the park – you could be painting, fixing signs, creating crafts or taking part in other DIY projects.
- Wednesdays 2.30pm-4.30pm – join our team of Lead Sheddies to take part in various activities including arts, woodwork, gardening, and more.
- Fridays 2pm-4pm – our gardening group meet to look after our vegetables, plants, and flowers, which we sell for donations on the plant stall as fundraising for the project.
Durlston Country Park and Nature Reserve
Local country park offering opens space, opportunities for volunteering and wellbeing.
Resource Type: Website
National Trust
National Trust Purbeck information on the first ‘super’ nature reserve in Purbeck Heaths.
Resource Type: Website
Planet Purbeck
Coming together to care for our countryside, coast and communities. We’re a young organisation, ‘the new kids on the block’ if you like. We’re connecting with the community and developing wonderful friendships as we go. We don’t all go wild swimming at 5am before knitting a vegan breakfast out of leaves…!
We’re from all walks of life, with teens through to those in their 80’s getting involved. Coming together like this is creating incredible energy and a nice, tingly feeling of joint purpose.
Resource Type: Website
Stepping into Nature
Have you ever had that feeling of just wanting to get out in the fresh air, have a change of scenery or do something different?
Our beautiful Dorset landscape is full of opportunities to enjoy nature in fun, social and creative ways. For some of us though, finding opportunities to enjoy nature that suits our needs are harder to come by.
Ability, confidence, and age can all influence what we can and can’t do. The Stepping into Nature project is about listening to our community in Dorset and working in partnership to enable everyone to enjoy nature.
Resource Type: Website
Sustainable Swanage
Our founding mission was to positively support the community of Swanage in reducing its waste, with an emphasis on plastic, but we have since expanded our work to include biodiversity and energy. We provide a link between different local organisations and groups and are working together to find solutions to issues that affect our local environment.
We provide a central point of information for the community on these issues and provide a means of sharing good tips and connecting people. We are a positive group looking to the future and how we can all live more sustainably and become resilient to future stresses and challenges that we face in our community.
Resource Type: Website