RSPCA appeal for wildlife casualty volunteers in South Tyneside

The animal charity is looking for wildlife casualty volunteers (WCV) to help collect confined birds (up to the size of a gull) and small wild mammals from members of the public and taking them to vets, or approved wildlife or RSPCA facilities.

The charity said in some instances, volunteers will help release rehabilitated wildlife back into the environment from which they were rescued.

The role is similar to its ‘first responder’ where volunteers receive details of collection tasks via the charity’s Volunteering App, Assemble.

Volunteers will be give their availability to volunteer on a rota, and update the 'OnCall' status of the Assemble App when they start their shift.

Organisers say the RSPCA’s National Control Centre will contact volunteers for help when they receive calls about wildlife collections in their local areas.

The RSPCA said: “You must have access to a vehicle and a smartphone for this role and be aged 18 or over. You will be provided with everything else you'll need including a lone working safety device, carry boxes and PPE.

“You'll also need to commit to completing a comprehensive training programme for new WCVs. This consists of a series of online eLearning modules, which can take up to five hours to complete, and a day spent with one of our Inspectorate team out in the field.

“Since 2017 our WCV volunteers have carried out over 5,000 collection across England and Wales.”

To apply for the role visit https://volunteer.rspca.org.uk/opportunities/30308-wildlife-casualty-volunteer-tyne-and-wear-2022-04-06/apply/[74975]