Corporate day success at hedgelaying

Corporate days out volunteering are a brilliant way to help both the CRT and support team building, health and wellbeing. 

Volunteers are crucial to our work at the CRT – and they are out in all weathers helping us across our properties.  

But often people can’t commit the time to regularly volunteer so a corporate day of volunteering is a great alternative. 

Corporate groups often come to work with us, which introduces people to the CRT, while doing some practical conservation work on one of our farms and having some fun. 

Recently, we welcomed 26 people from Keystone Environmental, who came to help us for the day, at Turnastone Court Farm in Herefordshire. 

The team from Keystone Environmental

Hedgelaying at Turnastone Court Farm

They worked on a hedge, which we have been laying incrementally in sections over the past couple of years with our regular Turnastone volunteers.

The team at Keystone Environmental managed to finish the last section, which is a fantastic help to the CRT.

The group consisted of employees from their habitats, ecology and office teams, which meant there was a broad selection of skillsets and experience, and they were well equipped for the task.  

We also created a dead hedge in a section, which was particularly gappy, using the offcuts from the hedgelaying.  

This helps to increase habitat connectivity and provides shelter for a wide variety of different species, such as small mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. It also becomes a habitat itself, with the deadwood rotting down, providing substrate for species of fungi and habitat for invertebrates. 

Busy working at Turnastone Court Farm

Helping out for the day at Turnastone Court Farm

Lucy Larkman, Head of Client Relations & Marketing at Keystone Environmental, said: “We enjoyed a fantastic day at Turnastone Court Farm in beautiful Herefordshire countryside in late November.   

“We chose to support the CRT as their mission, to protect, promote, and regenerate the land, and values, aligned so closely with our own.  Despite a chilly start and weather for all seasons, the day didn’t disappoint in any way.    

“Our 26 strong team, armed with billhooks and brushcutters, set to work hedgelaying and we managed to complete a 100m stretch in a matter of hours, a task that would have taken months for the small team at CRT.   

“The sense of satisfaction and team spirit was tangible, we’d contributed to making a real difference, we’d connected as colleagues and had fun in the process.

“We would definitely recommend a corporate volunteer day with the CRT and we’ll most certainly be back!  Many thanks to the lovely Ruth Moss, Conservation & Mapping Officer, for her warm hospitality, hot drinks and custard creams. Thank you!”

Ruth Moss, Conservation Officer at the Countryside Regeneration Trust, who worked with the team, said: "It was wonderful to host such an enthusiastic group of people, who were all really keen to get stuck in.  It was a joy to have Keystone Environmental for a day of hedgelaying at Turnastone Court Farm in Herefordshire and we welcome them back anytime.  

“Their expertise in the sector also made for some useful suggestions. For example, the team additionally created a dead hedge where a gap had formed in the hedge to aid habitat connectivity.  

“Corporate volunteer days are an excellent way to introduce people to the work of the CRT and nature friendly farming from different backgrounds and disciplines, as well as being a fantastic way to work on habitat conservation with many willing hands available to help.”

To find out more about corporate volunteer days at the CRT, see www.thecrt.co.uk/corporate-volunteering

How you can help

Our farmers can’t do it without you. If you want to help us protect local wildlife and help farmers continue to farm in a nature-friendly way, you can support the CRT in any number of ways, from joining as a CRT Friend to volunteering on one of our farms and attending our events. You can also sign-up to our monthly newsletter 'CRT News' for regular updates from our farms, straight to your inbox.

Published: November 2024