VOLUNTEERS at Hadrian's Wall are using National Volunteers’ Week (June 3-9) to highlight the advantages of lending a hand.

Morpeth's Theresa Elliott is one of more than 30 volunteers who are offering their free time to assist the endangered Curlew bird species in the Haltwhistle and Bardon Mill areas.

Ms Elliott, a former English teacher of 24 years and current Masters student in Conservation and Ecosystems Management at Newcastle University, said: "I’ve always had an intrinsic love of the countryside and I wanted to be part of something that’s improving my local landscape and biodiversity."

Ms Elliott has volunteered as part of the Curlew LIFE project, led by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and financially supported by the European Union's LIFE Programme.

The project is further supported at Hadrian’s Wall by the Fellfoot Forward project, spearheaded by the North Pennines National Landscape.

The project extends across 15,000 hectares and 25 farms.

Curlew populations have significantly decreased, with nearly a third lost in England since the mid-1990s and almost half lost in the UK as a whole.

The RSPB launched the project in October 2020, intending to improve habitats and raise awareness for the Red List species.

Ms Elliott supported volunteering as a gateway to a career in conservation.

"The volunteering is invaluable. It’s been a great experience and I’ve had all the support I needed from the project team," said Ms Elliott.

Ian Cole, RSPB's project lead for Hadrian’s Wall, said: “Our volunteers come from different walks of life and they’ll all have their own motivations for helping on the project, but for those who want to get into conservation as a career there’s no doubt that volunteering is hugely valuable."

Will Bevan, the England project officer for SVN, said: "We want to invest in volunteers and help them to achieve their potential, whatever their age, background or previous experience.

"Volunteers massively boost the impact we can have for nature and we’re hugely grateful to them for the vital contribution they make.” 

The Curlew LIFE project concludes at the end of of this year, however, the RSPB continues to provide other volunteering opportunities.