All WOS activities from the admin, to the website, to the communications, to the publications, to the grants, to the Conference are run entirely by a voluntary Council of individuals. This year’s Conference was the biggest ever and proved the interest in, and the real need for an organisation like WOS. We must grow further to enable us to widen our engagement, to increase our conservation work and to bring more birders and bird groups together. But to do that we also have to widen our pool of volunteers. There are two practical ways you can do that:

1. Becoming a trustee. Several trustees are coming to the end of their terms next year and we are already one trustee short on the current Council. Becoming a trustee is a rewarding way of getting involved into all our activities and shaping the organisation moving forward. We do not ask for ornithological expertise necessarily, just interest and an appetite to get involved in some or all aspects of WOS work.
2. Becoming a WOS volunteer. We also have specific areas where we are looking for help which don’t entail becoming a trustee. Our Communications Group (which is responsible for the newsletter as well as communications, social media, website etc) and Conference Group (which plans and runs the Annual Conference) are always looking for additional capacity to deliver and improve their work. But there are also always additional roles to fill – on a short-term or longer-term basis. So, whether you are tech-savvy, feel you could help in widening our engagement, good at admin or just simply have some time you’d like to dedicate to help further our work then PLEASE let us know. We will ALWAYS have something for you to do!

Welsh birds need an organisation like WOS to help protect them, to study them and to raise interest in them. Birders and bird groups need an organisation that can represent and help bring them together. We need you to help achieve all that – and hopefully more. So, even if you only have an hour or two a month to spare, we’d be interested in hearing from you. For more information and a no obligation chat, please contact chair@birdsin.wales