Community bird walk by Anna Josiffe
Our engagement team
The engagement team is responsible for engaging, educating, supporting and inspiring people, including families, young people, nature enthusiasts and communities. They aim to get people involved in and taking action for wildlife and nature conservation. The team connects people with wildlife, giving everyone the opportunity to access, appreciate and enjoy nature.
Areas of work
- Delivering informative school assemblies and educational session.
- Providing young people with skill and confidence building opportunities by working with youth volunteer groups, work experience students and colleges.
- Running a range of awareness raising public campaigns and events to inspire people and communities to support nature conservation across Worcestershire.
- Organising and delivering educational events and courses that help people to develop their understanding of species and habitats.
- Leading community projects that help to inform people about the wildlife on their doorstep and inspire them to take part in local initiatives to help restore local wildlife on their local patch.
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Case study: Anna Josiffe, Project Assistant for Wilder Worcestershire
Some folk know from an early age what they want as a career and don’t veer from that path, while some just fall into a satisfying and rewarding career from the outset. I was neither of these!
Although I loved biology at school, the other sciences didn’t sit well with me, so it was my love of languages that took me into university. I was adamant that I wasn’t going to be a teacher but had this idea that advertising was calling me. Actually, it wasn’t. Instead, I began a career in sales and marketing. With a marketing diploma under my belt, I eventually secured a role working for a US company, making use of my foreign language skills and working with various European offices and Middle Eastern customers. It was all very varied and interesting and involved foreign travel.
I later moved into a market research post with an educational software provider, which was another varied role again with plenty of scope to learn. But then, my niggling thoughts on doing something more worthwhile began. So I decided to leave the corporate world for... teaching!
Retraining as a primary school teacher later in life was challenging but the work was rewarding. Over the years, from Reception through to the upper years, I found myself drawn to opportunities to relay the wonders of the natural world. It's hard to beat the simple pleasure of listening to a five-year-old impart her knowledge of various tractor types and her holidays on a remote farm in the Lake District, or hearing the squeals of delight when new potatoes were dug up after a term of being carefully nurtured. I joined a teacher group keen to initiate outdoor learning in a school – not an easy task in a prime city location on public view.
As full-time teaching changed to supply work, more niggling doubts crept in as to whether this was the end of my years of working. After keeping an eye out for something else that could make a difference, something that would take me into the outdoors where I could transfer my skills and experience from previous roles, I finally found my third career working for the Trust. It has taken me a while but I feel at home now and it has been worth the wait.
