About

The reserves in Rugby are still open. However, visitors need to respect and follow the UK Government Guidelines on accessing green spaces.

We are a group of like-minded mostly volunteer individuals from different Trusts, Groups, Societies and Councils who enjoy the local wildlife and wish to promote, record and enhance it.  See our Reports and Minutes menu to get a flavour of what we do.

We hope to encourage people to use, appreciate and be involved in surveying and conservation activities around the area.  By joining us to carry out conservation by sensitive and controlled management we will improve further the biodiversity of local sites, making them more agreeable for particular species.  Please see our Volunteering page for guidance on how to join us. The dates for future conservation work parties are posted on the Work Parties page. 

We currently do this with,

  • Lectures
  • Walks
  • Planned Habitat management
  • Monitoring
  • Promoting via Press, Exhibitions and entry into Rugby in Bloom

To assist the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (W.W.T.), Rugby Borough Council (R.B.C.), Butterfly Conservation Trust and land Owners, we provide financial assistance for W.W.T. by carrying out skilled work and other voluntary work.

The committed groups have held an informal A.G.M. in February for the past few years to exchange ideas, highlight achievements and focus on future requirements.

Please take a look at the variuos sections within our Reports and Minutes pages to get a flavour of what we do. 

Volunteering

We have regular volunteer work parties at four Rugby sites:

Ashlawn Cutting

Cock Robin Wood

Newbold Quarry (summer months excluded)

Swift Valley Nature Reserve

Please see our Work Parties page for dates/times and venues. The main car park for each site is the usual meeting point. There can be exceptions for Ashlawn Cutting, as we try to meet close to where the work takes place. There are three additional access points that we use along the cutting. Volunteers for Ashlawn will be advised of the meeting location via email for each session.

The sites are managed for wildlife by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (WWT) on behalf of Rugby Borough Council. All of our Rugby sites have a regular volunteer work party schedule. The work parties are normally led by the designated work party leader for each site. Other volunteers are also trained as work party leaders to be able to cover for absences.

Our volunteer work is mostly physical but not too demanding. The necessary tools are provided. We do not expect volunteers to do more than they are comfortable with. Training and support are given where appropriate.

There is also the opportunity to run surveys on our sites, to record what is found there.

If you want to volunteer at one or more of the sites, you first need to be
registered with WWT. This does not require you to be a paying member of the Trust. The easiest way to start is by filling in the contact form.  Please state your reserves of interest in the comments box so that the Trust can then connect you to the appropriate work party leader.

Work Parties

Regular conservation work parties are held at the four primary reserves in Rugby. The planned future dates and locations are shown on this page.

Please be aware that all volunteers need to be registered with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust prior to joining their first work session. Please follow the guidance and link in the Volunteering page to become a volunteer. All existing volunteers registered prior to the start of the covid-19 lock-down must confirm their acceptance of the revised working procedures to WWT before returning to work on any site.

Work Party Dates and Locations

Ashlawn Cutting

Date: September 24, 2020

Time: 09:30

Location: Meet at Blossom Way entrance