"Full of heart, this book is teeming with a love for nature, friendship, self-reflection, and the importance of community. "
This wonderfully honest and heartfelt book salutes volunteering, and also sits as an offering for the meaning of community. It tells the very personal story of a volunteer manager, while celebrating the people who give nature and those around them a helping hand. Carol Donaldson is an ecologist, conservationist, and writer, she has written for the BBC Wildlife magazine, Wanderlust, and The Guardian. This book covers six years, as the author leads a group of countryside conservation volunteers. She is incredibly thoughtful and reflective as she looks back, her honesty is disarming. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Carol and her team, a family and community that was built with blood, sweat, tears (and the occasional near drowning!). The natural elements are just wonderful, described with an abiding yet realistic love. The tidbits of information and history are fascinating, and sit nicely alongside the more personal aspects. I actually feel it would be of benefit for all those working with volunteers (no matter the cause) to read this book. I’ve worked for three charities, have managed volunteers, and also been a volunteer, a lot of these stories caused echoes of feelings to cascade back into force. While Carol credits a previous manager with teaching her how to treat the volunteers she worked with, she obviously also had a lot of her own gifts to pass on. This, this is what volunteering should be about! The Volunteers is a sincere, heart-warming, and compelling book, highly recommended.
| Primary Genre | Nature and the natural world: general interest |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
A heart-warming true story of the woods and wildlife, conservation and community, perfect for fans of Detectorists and The Outlaws
When Carol's world suddenly unravels, leaving her single and jobless, she stumbles upon an unexpected opportunity: leading a ragtag team of countryside conservation volunteers. At first glance, the prospect of nurturing Britain's diverse wildlife in the great outdoors seems like a dream come true. However, reality paints a different picture: her office is a ramshackle porta-cabin overrun with mice and plagued by leaky ceilings, and the volunteers are far from impressed with her lack of practical skills.
Despite this rocky beginning, Carol gradually earns the respect of her eclectic group of volunteers, forging a tight-knit community that will grow to become essential to each member. This diverse group spans generations, from twenty-somethings to septuagenarians, with each of them looking to get something different out of volunteering, whether it's a sense of purpose, a fresh start in life or a tick on their community service form. They also bring their unique quirks and life experiences to the mix.
Volunteer days soon evolve into the highlight of Carol's week, as they bond over their love of nature, mental health battles, and the desire for companionship. As they work together outdoors, the team discover a simple yet powerful recipe for self-confidence, improved well-being and a newfound perspective on life's challenges. This journey not only brings solace and new joys to Carol's weeks, but eventually it helps her move on with her life, too.
The Volunteers is a heartwarming tale that celebrates the redemptive force of the woods and wildlife. It underscores the universal need for belonging and illustrates how, even in the most unexpected places, we can find a community to call our own.
The Volunteers features in the following genres: Non-Fiction Books of the Month, Recommendations, Biographies & Autobiographies, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure, Mind, body, spirit, Nature and the natural world: general interest, Nature therapy, Memoirs, Biography, Literature and Literary studies, Complementary therapies, healing and health, Conservation of wildlife and habitats, Conservation of the environment, Environmental management, The environment, Earth Sciences, Geography, Environment, Planning
The Volunteers is available in Paperback
The Volunteers was written by Carol Donaldson and published by Summersdale Publishers an imprint of Octopus Publishing Group
The Volunteers has 304 pages
£9.89
