Ken’s story: connecting with the local environment through volunteering

Ken de Souza is in his third year volunteering for CPRE Hampshire. He talks about how volunteering has changed his perception and benefitted his wellbeing and the local environment.

Since 2004, Ken de Souza has been with CPRE Hampshire as a meadows volunteer, supporting our Magnificent Meadows project in green spaces around Winchester.

Having always been interested in nature and conservation, including volunteer experience with various nature-based charities, he was drawn to volunteer for CPRE Hampshire when he found out about the scything training offered locally. “Scything is fascinating as a gentle way of helping manage the ecosystem to revert to a more traditional species rich wildflower meadow,’ says Ken.

Getting to grips with scything and meadow management

For CPRE meadows volunteers, tasks can include scything, raking cut vegetation, collecting and baling hay, or sometimes using freshly cut hay to help seed other areas. While scything came fairly easily to Ken, he was surprised at the length and complexity of the overall process of meadow management. “Haymaking is far more complicated than I thought it was,” says Ken. “The scything itself is often the quickest bit – it’s everything else that takes time. You realise how much consistent effort over time it needs.”

Appreciating the local environment

As well as learning new skills, Ken found that volunteering gave him a new perspective. “When you’re scything, you’re very focused on what you are doing, and look at things slightly differently,” he comments. “You notice the detail on your small patch more than you would normally (…) you realise that there’s a much greater variety of habitat within that small area than you thought.”

“I certainly have come to appreciate the diversity and the complexity of the environment you are working in. It’s different reading or hearing about it and actually noticing it yourself.”

Meeting new people and discovering new places

One aspect of volunteering Ken enjoys is the opportunity to mix with a diverse range of people. “Everybody brings a little camp chair and their snacks and their coffee,” he says. “You’re in a group of people who have very similar interests at one level but it’s a very varied group of people, which is really nice: there’s a good age mix – from seniors through to volunteers in their early 20s.”

Ken adds, “There’s this additional aspect of getting to know your local area. I didn’t know very much about Winchester’s green spaces before this, so volunteering on the Meadows project has helped me to get to know a bit more – there’s way more than I had thought.”

Good for the environment and self

Alongside the positive social aspects, Ken also found physical and mental health benefits of meadows volunteering. “When you’re scything, you have to focus on what you’re doing. It’s calming in a way, you just get into a zone and you don’t think about anything else,” he says. “It’s semi-selfish – it’s good for you, but also good for the environment, and good for the community.”

Ken would encourage others who were considering volunteering. “You can actually see something that you’ve done, you can see the impact,” he says. “You can come back later and see the changes — that there are more wildflowers and butterflies.’

Volunteer with CPRE Hampshire

If you are interested in volunteering for CPRE Hampshire, visit our volunteering hub to view current opportunities.