Animals and Environment

St Andrews Botanic Garden

Who They Are:

St Andrews Botanic Garden is a charity dedicated to plant conservation, ecological resilience and botanical research using a living-laboratory, habitat-led approach. The garden aims to improve the scientific understanding of plant function, evolution and responses to environmental and climatic changes. Set in 18 acres in the heart of St Andrews, the Botanic Garden offers a new perspective on a historic town.

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Volunteer’s Role:

Garden volunteers help care for the Botanic Garden’s living collections, habitats and landscapes. Typical tasks include general garden maintenance, helping with seasonal gardening tasks, assisting on garden project construction and development. Nursery volunteers support the propagation and cultivation of plants within the Garden’s nursery facilities. Typical tasks may include: sowing seeds and propagating plants from cuttings or division, potting on, division and caring for young plants, weeding of stock beds and young plants, labelling, organising, and maintaining nursery stock; general nursery maintenance. Education volunteers help out with the Little Oaks and Growing Together sessions for children. Typical tasks may include: welcoming families to the session; assisting with session set-up, pack-down, preparing activities and resources; assisting activity leaders during the session.

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Logistics:

• Ideally a minimum of two sessions a month

• Education: Tuesdays / Garden: Wednesdays / Nursery: Thursdays for 2 hours in the
  morning.

• Volunteers required to book a session ahead of time

• 10min walk from St Andrews Bus Station/bike racks and car park on Canongate

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Graduate Attributes

Research Skills and Problem Solving, Interpersonal Skills, Recognition of Opportunities, Effective Team Contribution, Social Responsibility

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St Andrews Environmental Network (StAndEN)

Who They Are:

St Andrews Environment Network is a charity aiming to reduce CO2 emissions and promote sustainable living within the community. Their two main projects are a community garden and the EcoHub. The community garden was previously a neglected space that has been transformed into a community event space, a fully accessible garden, and rewilding area. In following years, StAndEN aims to begin generating their own compost, installing raised beds - ensuring that there are areas which are accessible for people of all abilities - and creating areas to encourage wildlife and pollinators. The Eco Hub has a zero-waste and refill shop, art exhibitions, a StAnd ReUse drop-off point, and people to go to for advice concerning sustainability and the environment.

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Volunteer’s Role:

In the community garden, volunteers can come along and help with whatever tasks need to be done that day - including watering, sowing, weeding, harvesting, and other handy tasks. At the Eco Hub, volunteers take on an office-based role. There are many different options for what exactly you want to get involved with: help serve customers at the Refill Shop, create social media content, or help the team run the Reuse project.

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Logistics:

• Community Garden: every Thursday 1-2:30pm, come for any amount of time

• EcoHub: any time that is convenient. 4 hours/week suggested but flexible.

• 7min walk from St Andrews Bus Station / 3min cycle / 2min drive

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Graduate Attributes

Environmental Sustainability, Effective Team Contribution, Confidence and Adaptability, Interpersonal Skills, Diversity Awareness

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Green Shores Saltmarsh Restoration Project

Who They Are:

The Green Shores project is Scotland’s longest-running coastal habitat restoration project, with over 25 years of saltmarsh restoration and research. The project plants propagates, carries out research and monitoring work, and installs storm fencing to protect newly established marshes in the early stages. In the 2025 planting season, volunteers helped plant 4,000 polytunnel-grown saltmarsh plants used to help restore salt marshes along the Tay and Eden Estuaries and in Dornoch Firth. Run by Dr. Helena Simmons, the hub of the project is in a polytunnel on the Eden Course adjacent to the Eden Estuary.

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Volunteer’s Role:

The Green Shores project is happy to accept volunteers enthusiastic about coastal conservation and ecology, or anyone willing to lend a hand! Volunteers have a wide range of roles, from planting in the salt marsh to polytunnel maintenance to propagating plants!

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Logistics:

• No minimum time commitment

• Every Wednesday in the polytunnel + occasional planting days in Eden Estuary

• Project hub on the Eden Course: 99 bus to Strathtyrum Golf Course + walk ~15min /

• 6 min cycle / 25 min walk / 5 min drive

• Volunteers can be added to a mailing list for further communication

• Briefing and tour during first volunteer session

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Graduate Attributes

Environmental Sustainability, Effective Team Contribution, Networking, Oral Communication, Technical and Specialist Academic Skills and Disciplinary Knowledge

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Rock Pool Project East Sands Hub

Who They Are:

The Rock Pool Project is a not-for-profit community interest company founded in Cornwall in 2018, passionate about connecting people of all ages and backgrounds to the incredible wildlife found around our coastline. The Big Rock Pool Challenge hosts free monthly BioBlitz Battles to engage people of all ages through a fun and friendly competitive way to explore rock pools and document marine life. The data collected will aid wildlife management and conservation efforts locally and globally.

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Volunteer’s Role:

Lead volunteers from each hub around the country run free community BioBlitz battle events once a month. Volunteers help setup the event, register and debrief participants, support the 90-minute BioBlitz Battle and ID station, pack down equipment and verify observations on iNaturalist after the event. It is a great opportunity for students from all backgrounds (you don’t need to be an expert marine biologist!). It gives you experience running events, working with children and the community, as well as great biology experience.

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Logistics:

• Supporting volunteers can attend according to availability; events are around 3 hours on one Saturday per month Lead Volunteers commit to attending at least 8 events throughout the year

• 22 mins walk from St Andrews Bus Station to East Sands / 10 mins bus

• All volunteers must be 18 or above

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Graduate Attributes

Communication, Effective Team Contribution, Leadership, Organisation Skills, Interpersonal Skills, Problem Solving, Social Responsibility

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Guide Dogs for the Blind St Andrews

Who They Are:

Guide Dogs is a charity that works to support people of all ages living with vision impairment. The charity is funded almost only on donations and is the only UK charity to breed and train guide dogs. They also employ specialists to help children overcome difficulties faced by loss of sight as well as carry out research to better understand the needs of those they support and improve the care of their dogs. Guide dogs offers in- person services as well as online and telephonic services to provide support to anyone who needs it.

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Volunteer’s Role:

Volunteers will help out Guide Dogs St Andrews carry out fundraising events throughout the year. These can be anything from coffee mornings, store collections and events held annually like St Andrews Harbour Gala, Highland Games, Big Hoolie etc. They also take pups in training to University Halls, the Union and other locations throughout town to raise awareness for the charity. Having more volunteers would allow the organisation to take additional pups. As Guide Dogs, they are very well trained so as long as the student is happy with dogs, it is a very enjoyable hour or so.

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Logistics:

• No specific time commitment required

• Volunteering is whenever the organisation is having an event

• Events are often in St Andrews so easily accessible

• Online application and training + induction talk at first session

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Graduate Attributes

Diversity Awareness, Effective Team Contribution, Interpersonal Skills, Oral Communication, Confidence and Adaptability

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Cambo Estate

Who They Are:

Cambo Heritage Trust was established to promote horticulture, education, arts and heritage at Cambo Estate. On site, they have gardens, woodlands, a vegetarian café and a visitors centre. The goal of the organisation is to promote sustainable living and the conservation of native flora. They welcome visitors and often have events such as creative workshops, markets, guided walks, practical workshops, etc.

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Volunteer’s Role:

Volunteers can work in the gardens, the gift shop or help with community projects. In the gardens, there is ground prep and sowing, weeding, harvesting, composting, pruning and picking. In the gift shop, volunteers will display the merchandise , run the shop, greet customers and be a historical guide. For community projects, volunteers can help with publicity, project management, community engagement and social media. Technical project: Cambo Gardens’ digital tool operates in isolation and their website is no longer an effective entry point for visitors. A group of volunteers is needed to connect all of their independent services together, looking at their technical report to fix the current issues.This can be worked on anytime and is remote.

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Logistics:

• Volunteer sessions on Monday afternoons, Tuesday mornings and Friday afternoons

• No minimum time commitment

• Travel: 95 bus from St Andrews Station to Cambo, Lodge ~ 30min / 20 min drive

• No experience required, registration form to fill out

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Graduate Attributes

Environmental Sustainability, Effective Team Contribution, Oral Communication, Ethical Awareness, Creativity, Confidence and Adaptability, Commercial and Business Awareness

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Craigtoun Country Park

Who They Are:

Craigtoun Country Park is a park located just outside the centre of St Andrews and is open all year round with free entry and parking, spanning 47 acres. They have children’s rides, playgrounds, activities such as mini golf and go-karting as well as a Park Golf Course. The park is a historical site and belongs to Fife Council therefore relying on the local community for its upkeep and maintenance. There are different areas of the park containing unique gardens full of beautiful flowers and fauna, all requiring maintenance.

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Volunteer’s Role:

Our main focus as SVS volunteers will be helping with the gardens which provide both educational and recreational purposes for the community. Craigtoun have a wide variety of work that volunteers can get involved with, depending on their time commitments and interests. These include building and painting fences, gardening, landscaping and other general maintenance. There are also opportunities in administrative work, photography, videography and social media to support the park’s events, marketing and website.

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Logistics:

• No minimum time commitment

• Travel: 64 bus from Alexandra Place to Craigtoun Country Park + walk ~ 35min / 20
  min cycle / 1 hour walk / 10 minute drive

• No experience required, volunteers will be given an induction on their first day

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Graduate Attributes

Environmental Sustainability, Effective Team Contribution, Oral Communication, Confidence and Adaptability

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Fife Tree Wardens

Who They Are:

The Fife Tree Wardens is a scheme funded by the Fife Council and the Community Woodlands Association and is supported by Fife Coast and Countryside Trust and Climate Action Fife. The project aims to increase the tree cover in Fife, with the ultimate goal of having six trees for each person living in Fife. Their goals are to sustainably plant more trees while inspiring other people to care for and protect the trees in their communities. Trees have many benefits, one of the key benefits being their positive impact in the fight against climate change, which is why they need to be protected. So if this is something you’d like to get involved in, they’d love to have you onboard!

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Volunteer’s Role:

As a tree warden, you will be able to plant, care for and safeguard the trees in our community. Other roles include managing local woods and removing invasive species, surveying the trees in your area, leading guided tree walks and collecting seeds from local trees for future tree planting. Depending on your interests, you will be offered various training through the Fife Tree Warden Scheme.

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Logistics:

• Time commitment of 1-2 hours a month

• Travel: depending on event

• Passion for trees/outdoors, willing to contribute to projects

• Volunteers will be required to watch an induction video and then complete an application form provided by the Fife Countryside Trust

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Graduate Attributes

Environmental Sustainability, Effective Team Contribution, Confidence and Adaptability, Oral Communication