The Conservation Volunteers

The Conservation Volunteers
Founded 1959 (1959)
Type Social enterprise group
Registration no. 261009 in England and Wales; SCO39302 in Scotland
Focus Environmentalism, volunteering, education and training
Location
  • Sedum House, Mallard Way, Doncaster DN4 8DB, UK
Area served
United Kingdom[1]
Key people
Prince Philip, patron[2]
Revenue
Increase £34.5m GBP (2009/10)[3]
Employees
767[4]
Volunteers
c. 628,000[3]
Mission To create a more sustainable future by inspiring people and improving places.[4]
Website www.tcv.org.uk
Formerly called
BTCV, British Trust for Conservation Volunteers[1]

The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) is a community volunteering charity that works to create healthier and happier communities for everyone through environmental conservation and practical tasks undertaken by volunteers. Whether improving wellbeing, conserving a well-loved outdoor space or bringing people together to promote social cohesion, combat loneliness or enhance employment prospects, TCV works together with communities to deliver practical solutions to the real life challenges they face (until 1 May 2012 traded as BTCV - British Trust for Conservation Volunteers[1]).

TCV has a for-profit trading arm, TCV Employment and Training Services Limited, which generates profit to feed the charity,[5] (46% of income).[3] The company has various government contracts to work with the long-term unemployed, aiming to improve skills and qualifications.

TCV has 767 staff and works with 628,000 people.

Its strapline is Join in, feel good.

Overall aims

TCV's vision is "We want healthier, happier communities for everyone".

The organisation's aims include:

On a practical level, TCV enables 628,000 volunteers per year to engage in conservation work in both the urban and the rural environment.

Activities

The charity attempts to be inclusive and accessible to all, running a diverse range of activities across the UK. Many are focused around practical conservation work, but TCV also provides extensive training, work experience and education opportunities. TCV's projects are varied and include community gardens, food growing projects, taking care of parks and nature reserves, tree planting and woodland management, dry stone walling and projects to increase biodiversity. Projects also exist to help introduce children and young people to the environment as well as those helping to involve people with learning difficulties in environmental activities.

Some of TCV's activities include:

History

The Conservation Corps

In 1959 the (then) Council for Nature appointed Brigadier Armstrong to form the Conservation Corps, with the objective of involving young volunteers, over the age of 16, in practical conservation work.[7] The corp's first project was at Box Hill, Surrey,[7] where 42 volunteers cleared dogwood to encourage the growth of juniper and distinctive chalk downland flora.[8] One of the volunteers present was David Bellamy, who went on to became a Vice President of BTCV.[2][8]

By 1964 the Conservation Corps had expanded its activities to include education and amenity work in the countryside. In 1966 it moved from a basement office at Queens Gate, Kensington, to new premises at London Zoo in Regent's Park. In 1968 the first training course for volunteers was held. By 1969 membership had increased to 600, and volunteers completed around 6000 workdays a year. The first ever international exchange visit to Czechoslovakia that year became the forerunner for the International Project Programme of today.

The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers

In 1970 the Conservation Corps started to operate under the new name of British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV), with Prince Philip as Patron. In 1971 the local group affiliation scheme was launched.

BTCV

The organisation underwent a second change of identity in 2000, taking the initialism BTCV as its new name in full.[9]

The Conservation Volunteers

In May 2012, BTCV rebranded under the trading name The Conservation Volunteers (TCV).

At the group's annual general meeting in November 2012 the members of The Conservation Volunteers voted unanimously to change formally the name of the charity to The Conservation Volunteers.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Charity framework, text from governing documents of BTCV". Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  2. 1 2 "The Conservation Volunteers - Governance". The Conservation Volunteers. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 BTCV, Registered Charity no. 261009 at the Charity Commission
  4. 1 2 "BTCV Facts and Figures". BTCV. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  5. "BTCV Report and Financial Statements (2009–10)" (pdf). Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  6. "Farewell to Conservation Holidays". Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Tidying up the Nature Reserves". The New Scientist. 26 February 1959. pp. 448–449.
  8. 1 2 "Bellamy celebrates 50 years of volunteering with BTCV". Third Sector. 18 February 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  9. "Companies House: Company details". Companies House. Retrieved 9 July 2011.

External links

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