No Experience Needed: Eastleigh Borough Opens Up Free Volunteering Roles for Anyone Who Wants to Give Back
From woodland coppicing to gentle walks for people with disabilities, Eastleigh's Health and Wellbeing team is rolling out fresh volunteering roles — and they want you involved.
Your Local Green Spaces Need You — and It Won't Cost You a Thing
Eastleigh Borough Council's Health and Wellbeing team has thrown open the doors on a fresh batch of volunteering roles, and they're making it clear: no experience, no problem. Whether you fancy getting your hands dirty in a country park or simply want to walk alongside others who understand what it's like to live with a long-term illness, there's something here for you.
The roles are free, fully supported, and launching right now — and for anyone who's been looking for a reason to get outside, this might just be it.
Brand New: Country Park Gardening at Itchen Valley
The newest addition to the volunteering roster is the Country Park Gardening Volunteer role, based at Itchen Valley Country Park. Volunteers join a friendly group every Friday morning to help Rangers maintain and create gardening spaces for both wildlife and park visitors.
It's relaxed, it's sociable, and it's genuinely useful work — the kind that leaves a visible mark on a place people love. The council will provide all the support, training and tools you need to get stuck in.
If Friday mornings in a country park sound like your kind of therapy, keep reading — because there's even more on offer.
Conservation Volunteers Expand to Two Parks
The popular Country Parks Conservation Volunteers programme has grown. Opportunities are now available at both Lakeside Country Park and Itchen Valley Country Park, giving more people across the borough a chance to get involved.
Volunteers work in established, friendly groups on tasks including general maintenance, woodland coppicing, and creating new habitats for wildlife. These are hands-on, outdoors roles that make a tangible difference to the natural environment on your doorstep.
For anyone who's ever walked through one of these parks and thought 'someone must look after this' — now you can be that someone.
WalkTogether Eastleigh: Health Walks Gets a Fresh Start
The council has also rebranded its popular Health Walks programme, relaunching it as WalkTogether Eastleigh. The aim is simple: help more people rediscover the joy of walking, week in, week out, right across the borough.
Crucially, these walks are designed to be genuinely inclusive. Whether you have a physical disability, a learning disability, a long-term illness, or you simply want to get out of the house and meet people, WalkTogether Eastleigh is built with you in mind.
It's a quiet but powerful idea — that putting one foot in front of the other, alongside others, can shift something in how you feel.
Who Can Get Involved?
All of these roles sit under the Council's Health and Wellbeing team, and the message couldn't be clearer: nobody is turned away for lack of experience. The team provides training, tools and ongoing support for every volunteer.
The roles are open to residents across Eastleigh Borough, and with opportunities now spread across multiple parks and walking routes, there's genuine reach here — not just a token gesture at green volunteering.
For communities like ours, where green space matters and loneliness is a real issue, this is exactly the kind of local initiative that deserves a proper shout.
What Happens Next
The volunteering roles are open now and accepting applications. Residents interested in the Country Park Gardening role, Conservation Volunteers, or WalkTogether Eastleigh walks can apply directly through the Eastleigh Borough Council Health and Wellbeing team. Given how quickly the conservation spots have proven popular in the past, it's worth moving sooner rather than later.
Source: Wellbeing and green volunteering opportunities open up