Nature Walk Lead

Can you help people connect with nature across the North East? Whether you’re interested in birds, butterflies, or something else, we need your help to lead nature walks across the North East.

About this opportunity

Do you like meeting new people, exploring new places, and sharing natural history with others? We’re looking for friendly, personable volunteers with an interest in North East nature to lead nature walks across Newcastle, Northumberland, and the wider North East.

Expert knowledge is not required, just a passion for sharing wildlife and wild spaces with others, especially beginners, and where you go is up to you.

By taking part, you’ll be joining a wonderful, ever-growing community of volunteer naturalists who guide and inspire local people to appreciate, enjoy and protect our wildlife. Supported by NHSN’s Senior Naturalist, you’ll also get to plan walks around the subjects and places that matter to you.

What we’re looking for

Volunteers interested in all areas of natural history are welcome. However, we’re particularly interested in people passionate about:

• Birds and birdwatching
• Urban wildlife
• Wildflowers, trees, and other plants
• Insects (especially butterflies)
• Local places and their natural history
• Mammals
• Fungi

Time commitment

Fully flexible – regular walks throughout the year. For example, monthly, seasonally, or more during peak times. Occasional is fine too!

When you volunteer is up to you and walks can take place on both weekends and weekdays.

Main activities 

• Planning and delivering beginner-friendly nature walks
• Capturing photos from events to share online
• Providing occasional write-ups for the NHSN website
• Optional: organising wildlife recording to help with NHSN citizen science projects
• Optional: helping with public events such as Bioblitzes

About you

• You’ll be a friendly, welcoming, and personable
• You’ll love to chat and meet new people
• You’ll be enthusiastic about wildlife and natural history, or a particular area of it
• You’ll be well organised
• You’ll be passionate about the wider work of NHSN

What we’re looking for 

No expert nature knowledge is required for this role just an enthusiasm for natural history and a passion for sharing it with others. Whether we’re talking butterflies, birds, bees, or botany, you’ll be keen to encourage connection with nature, sharing what you know but focused on providing a memorable, positive experience.

What the role will do for you 

• You’ll receive administrative and planning support from NHSN staff
• You’ll get to spend time regularly in a beautiful and diverse outdoor setting.
• You’ll meet new people, make new friends, and form part of a diverse team, passionate about nature.
• You’ll meet naturalists from all walks of life – sharing their knowledge of the natural world.
• You’ll have opportunities to get involved in other stuff too, from events to citizen science.

This is a wonderful opportunity to help NHSN achieve its vision of engaging more and a wider range of people with natural history.

Leading walks for NHSN has been fantastic for my confidence. Expert nature knowledge is definitely not required and it is fine to say “I don’t know” from time to time. By leading walks with NHSN, I’ve been able to meet and learn from lots of really interesting people and have enjoyed spending time in nature with others passionate about local wildlife.

NHSN Nature Walk Lead