Volunteering with community greenspace

Paths groups

Access forum

Enhancing biodiversity

Placemaking guide

Private water supply

Street care and cleaning

Animal health and welfare

Strategic Environmental Assessment

Working together to maintain, improve and promote our shared spaces for all to enjoy.

Volunteering offers you an opportunity to build new skills, meet new people, use your existing skills to benefit others and to gain valuable work experience. There are also considerable benefits to physical and mental health and wellbeing, both in terms of volunteering and in by being outside with nature. Watch our short volunteering video to find out more.

The work of volunteers is essential in many ways to the management and success of local green spaces and we are always keen to welcome more willing volunteers on board.

Groups to join

From Path groups, Bloom groups and Friends of Cemeteries across the length and breadth of Perth and Kinross, there are around 100 groups actively engaged in volunteering in our green spaces . Whether you are an individual or enquiring on behalf of your Company, please contact us on communitygreenspace@pkc.gov.uk for further details of how we can work together.

Bloom groups

There are 48 constituted bloom groups in Perth and Kinross, stretching from Kinloch Rannoch in the East to Powmill in the South and Kirkmichael in the North. Many are long established and are motivated by a strong desire to make environmental improvements in their communities. A number of these groups have achieved national success and recognition, such as Beautiful Perth, winner of he RHS Britain in Bloom Champion of Champions and Brig in Bloom, winner of the RHS Britain In Bloom, Best Large Village. Many communities offer regular "bloom "volunteering opportunities, bringing together their local Community for the benefit of all.

A number of bloom groups have also delivered valuable legacy Projects through the Take a Pride in Perth and Kinross Association (opens new window).

To find your nearest Bloom group, or to start your own, please contact Elspeth Bruce

Friends of Cemeteries groups

This new initiative was launched in January 2022, with groups across Perth & Kinross engaged in practical work to enhance their local burial grounds.

Activities can include

Maintaining shrub beds, planting bulbs, tidying grass edges
Painting gates and railings, and fundraising for new benches etc
Encouraging and recording biodiversity in the site
Promoting the cemetery as an important part of the local community
Recording and researching headstone information

To find your nearest Friends group, or to start your own, contact FOC@pkc.gov.uk

Path Groups

Perth and Kinross Council supports 17 path groups which work on a wide range of path projects. A number of the path groups are motivated by the need to keep paths open and accessible for all, while others embark on large path upgrade tasks. Groups are managed locally by communities who run regular tasks and always welcome new volunteers. Training can be provided by Perth and Kinross Council, via your relevant Community Greenspace Ranger, as can the provision and lending of required tools and equipment.

To find your nearest Path group, or to start your own, contact CommunityGreenspace@pkc.gov.uk and we'll direct you to the relevant Greenspace Ranger for your area.

Orchard groups and community gardens

Orchard Groups and Community Gardens

Community Greenspace offers support to over 20 community gardens, allotments and orchards throughout the Perth and Kinross area, some of which are often on the lookout for volunteers, including:

Alyth Community Orchards
The Kinross Potager Garden
Horner's Plot in Perth
The Walled Garden, Perth

Kinnoull Hill User Group

Kinnoull Hill Woodland Park Group (opens new window)

North Inch Golf Club

The volunteer group (opens new window) help the green keepers to tackle some of the jobs on the course including raking and edging bunkers, filling divots on tees and fairways and lopping branches. They usually meet at 10am on Wednesday mornings and work until 1pm with a break for tea/coffee.

Anyone who helps out for 3 hours is rewarded with a voucher for a free round of golf. Email for further information or call the Starter's box on 01738636481.

Outdoor Access Forum

The Perth & Kinross Outdoor Access Forum is an independent group of individuals and representatives of organisations appointed by the Council under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 who work with Council Officers to:

Act as a consultee in relation to upholding access rights through the removal of signs and obstructions.
Deal with requests to exempt land from access rights.
Review byelaws.
Mediate and offer advice to the Council and other parties to help resolve access conflicts by a process of seeking consensus.

South Perth Greenspaces Group

The South Perth Greenspaces group are a group of active volunteers who regularly meet to take care of greenspaces from St Magdalene's Hill to the South Inch and across all of south Perth.

South Perth Greenspaces Group on Facebook (opens new window)

Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust

PKCT has a strong relationship with existing volunteer networks, such as the PKC Paths Groups and the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Wildlife Watch (opens new window). As a charitable organisation they also offer corporate volunteering opportunities at a donation of £60 per person. Perth & Kinross Countryside Trust Volunteering (opens new window)

Tayside Biodiversity Partnership

The TBP now in its 25^th year, continues to roll out both small and large-scale projects across the region working closely with communities both rural and urban. These wildlife projects (opens new window) vary widely and cover a great many species found both locally and nationally.

Volunteering opportunities include