BTCV report highlights increase in disabled volunteers

By Rosie Walker, Third Sector Online, 25 March 2008

Conservation work is increasingly attractive to disabled volunteers, according to conservation charity BTCV.

The organisation’s 2008 diversity report showed that one in 10 of its ‘key volunteers’ – volunteers who have committed to give a certain amount of time to specific roles – has what can be described as a disability. Two years ago there were no volunteers with disabilities.

The percentage of paid BTCV staff with a disability, including people with dyslexia or hearing impairments, has also risen from 2.5 per cent to 12 per cent.

“The results highlight the success of BTCV’s policy to include individuals and groups traditionally under-represented in the environmental sector,” said Tom Flood, chief executive of BTCV.

The report also found that 37 per cent of all people involved in BTCV activities come from communities that are under-represented in environmental volunteering, including refugees and asylum seekers, those at risk of offending and people living in poverty.

BTCV supports 140,000 volunteers a year in activities to improve the urban and rural environment.

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