My love for wildlife started at a very young age. I enjoyed being outdoors, looking for interesting bugs under rocks and watching birds from my DIY hide in my parent’s back garden. Stemming from this childhood love of wildlife came my choice to move to the Lake District and get my bachelor’s degree in Animal Conservation Science. Living and studying in Cumbria opened my eyes to the rich wildlife throughout the county, especially in the coastal areas, but also revealed all the challenges this wildlife faces. This made me to want to make a difference. Community engagement is an essential tool in wildlife conservation: local knowledge, support and help aids the restoration and protection of wildlife. This is why I chose to undertake this Community Engagement Traineeship with Cumbria Wildlife Trust.
Lucy’s Trainee Journey
Lucy Jarvis
My trainee journey began in October 2024. Everyone in The Bay team and the Marine team were so welcoming; throughout the traineeship many people in both these teams supported me, allowing me to shadow their surveys, events, and sessions. Visiting the project officers in Fleetwood and Morecambe gave me the opportunity to explore more of Morecambe Bay, allowing me to have a greater understanding of the challenges that the community and wildlife face throughout the project area.
In mid-October I attended my first event, a Coastdusters at Sandy Gap beach on Walney Island. After shadowing Yolanda at a few events, I went onto running my own, starting small with a stall at Barrow Library Christmas Market in November. Since then, I have run an array of different events: dementia friendly Time in Nature sessions at Plumgarths; Shoresearch rockpool surveys at Earnse Bay; portable rockpools to the Samaritans and Hindpool Nursery; and my most recent event, and probably my favourite, was the Mini Marine Biologist Day in March. We had hot sunny weather (unheard of in March on the north-west coast!) and a brilliant turn out of keen, young scientists ready to undertake wildlife surveys at Biggar Bank on Walney. To wrap up my traineeship I ran one last event: a Bird and Seal Watch event at South Walney Nature Reserve.
Over the past 6 months I feel as though I have come a long way. From running special events on the beach to doing an interview on BBC Radio Cumbria, I have gained so many new skills and experiences that I can take with me into future positions. It’s bittersweet coming to the end of this traineeship as I am grateful for the time and effort the team has put into helping me to further myself, but I am also really sad to be leaving. Every member of The Bay team has been amazing to work with and the effect their sessions and events have had on communities within the project area have inspired me. Thank you to all The Bay team, including the numerous amazing volunteers that make all these events possible!