Over the last year we have had four enthusiastic and highly motivated people interested in a career in wildlife conservation training with us on the Wildlife Skills programme, funded by the Heritage lottery.

The four positions are:

• Two in Practical conservation (Ross Sheppard based in the north around swindon of the county and Matt Callaway in the south)

• Volunteer and community engagement (Georgina Baker working primarily on our Help for Hero’s project at Tedworth House)

• Survey and monitoring (Naomi Campbell working across all of Wiltshire)

The positions are aimed at people interested in pursuing a career in the above areas and who are looking to gain experience and skills in their chosen field.

During the year all have gained practical qualifications such as Chainsaw certificate, monitoring and mapping skills and volunteer management qualifications. They also attended four residential training weeks across the south west and of course gained valuable experience working alongside their trust mentors.

Highlights included

Training on Brownsea Island at the start of our traineeship on our first residential. A magical place to begin thier traineeship, with the islands almost Jurassic feel and an abundance of unique wildlife including; red squirrels, seeker deer and night jars. This really was a special beginning.

Another highlight has been the building of a bee hotel which provides habitat for ground nesting solitary bees. A huge learning curve for both Ross and Matt in regards to materials, tools and fabricating such a structure, but hugely satisfying

Matt Callaway said ‘Gaining a chainsaw ticket has been amazing, most seasonal winter work involves the use of a chainsaw and to have a chainsaw licence has filled a huge gap on the CV front.

Ross said “ I feel we have all had a fantastic and fruitful year on our traineeships, learning new skills, making friends and contributing something positive to the environment we all live in. And therefore we would like to say a gigantic thank you to everyone that has been involved with the traineeships from the Wildlife trusts and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Thank you Wiltshire Wildlife trust for this opportunity”

The good news is that Naomi has secured a job with a consultancy, Georgina is now working for Help for Heroes and Matthew has been employed by the Trust. Ross has decided to take time out to be with his new baby daughter and partner. Derek Gard the project lead in Wiltshire says ‘Congratulations to all of them, they have brought a breath of fresh air to the trust with their enthusiasm, humour and energy.’

We now welcome four new trainees for the coming year. Jasmine Walters our Survey and Monitoring trainee, Keeley Hampton our volunteer engagement trainee, and Cora Pfarre and Peter Banham our conservation Trainees. If you see them about the county say hello.