Auroch Digital offers a wide range of benefits to its employees, one of which is a yearly volunteering day that employees can use however they’d like. This is one way we give back to our wider community and empower our employees to support local charities and initiatives that they are passionate about.

Early in 2024, some of the senior management team at Auroch Digital visited the Bristol Animal Rescue Center to help craft toys and enrichment items for the furry residents and toward the end of the year, one of our marketing mangers spent their day on Blacka Moor near Sheffield helping with vital conservation work.

Blacka Moor

Blacka Moor is part of the Peak District and comprises 181 hectares of heathland, woodland and bog.

It’s a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) thanks to its abundance of unique features, including the gradual transition from woodland to open moor, the varieties of heather, its diverse migrant bird populations, and its population of bilberry bumblebees.

Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust care for the site and others and regularly advertise volunteering opportunities on their website.

What did I do as a Volunteer?

Despite it being December, the sun was shining when I visited Blacka Moor although there was still a brisk Winter breeze in the air.

We spent our day at the Strawberry Lee Plantation, which is an area of woodland bordered by rhododendron on each side.

Rhododendron is a dense, fast-growing plant that provides shelter for wildlife, but it's also invasive and, if uncontrolled, would spread completely through woodland destroying the native species that grow there.

To help combat this, our task for the day was to remove freshly grown rhododendron that had spread from the boundary lines into the forest itself. Because of the prolificity of the rhododendron, this activity needs to be carried out twice a month to keep the plant under control and I was able to meet some of the regular volunteers on my volunteering day

For the most part, this was quite easy as the rhododendron was young and hadn’t established a strong root system, making it easy to remove just by pulling.

Occasionally it had gone unnoticed though, and we needed to dig around in the undergrowth, using loppers to cut back its branches until we could find the root. Once or twice, the root system was so well developed that we’d need to use a tree popper to lever the plant and its roots completely out of the ground.

Once a rhododendron plant had been removed from the ground, it needed to be left somewhere off the ground until the team could come back and burn them at a later date. The easiest places to do this were on tree branches high above the ground and this meant their roots would dry out and the plants would die.

Unfortunately, there were some rhododendron plants that were impossible to remove. For example, this one had grown into the nook of two trees and its roots were unreachable.

In this instance, we cut the plant back as far as we were able to and then one of the Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife rangers applied a pesticide directly onto the rhododendron. This pesticide only lasted for 24 hours and wouldn’t harm the two trees around it but would hopefully kill the rhododendron and prevent it from continuing to harm the two trees it was growing into.

Overall, my volunteering day at Blacka Moor was incredibly rewarding and I was able to do my part to support the moor where I regularly walk with my dog and family. I couldn’t have asked for a better day and hopefully I’ll be back in 2025 to volunteer for the Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust again.

Other Ways to Volunteer and Support

Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust is always on the look for new volunteers to help with conservation across their 15 nature reserves. From corporate Wild Work Days, to one off volunteering days or a more regular commitment. No experience is necessary, and tasks can include habitat restoration, fence or path repairs, invasive plant control, litter picking and wildlife gardening.

If you don’t live locally, you could also find more opportunities in your area. There’s also the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust among many others.

At Auroch Digital, we’re passionate about both our games and our impact on the world around us. From giving talks at local primary schools or volunteering at animal shelters, we try our best to support our local communities while still having fun.

Blog

Trading the Office for the Moors with Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust

Blacka Moor

What did I do as a Volunteer?

Other Ways to Volunteer and Support

Auroch Digital