Volunteer for Plant Heritage and enjoy getting in touch with plant enthusiasts, having access to rare and unusual plants, and simply enjoying plants!
Plant Heritage is a plant conservation charity, dedicated to protecting a variety of garden plants for the future, including rare and unusual plants. We are the home of the National Plant Collections® which are a living library of over 95,000 different plants that are potentially useful to researchers, as well as beautiful and good for biodiversity. We have a small team of staff, supported by hundreds of volunteers and thousands of members across the UK and Ireland who share our passion for plants.
Our work is carried out in the main, by volunteers. From the fundraising and educational work done in local Groups, to the accreditation and review of National Plant Collections and Plant Guardians, managing seed donations, organising the national plant exchange, Board trustees, office administration, flower shows, PR and of course the National Collection Holders themselves.
Trustees of Plant Heritage
We are seeking new passionate and committed individuals to join our Board of Trustees. This is to fill current vacancies and because we are planning ahead for key roles that will become vacant in future, including the Chair of the Board and the Honorary Treasurer. As a Trustee, you will play a crucial role in helping us to achieve our mission.
We welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds, with a variety of skills. You don’t have to be a plant expert. What matters most is your commitment to help us achieve our objectives.
Read our Plant Heritage guide for new Trustees.
Experience in one or more of the following would be particularly valuable:
- Plant Conservation (we aim to have at least one National Plant Collection holder on our Board, but we also value other conservation skills)
- Financial management and UK charity accounting (especially for the Honorary Treasurer position)
- Legal and governance issues, especially charity governance
- People and Culture, including HR policy and practice in the UK
- Fundraising and marketing, especially brand management or digital fundraising
- Community engagement and outreach
Applicants are invited to complete the short application form and return it to info@plantheritage.org.uk. Please ring Gwen Hines, Chief Executive on 01483 447540 for an informal discussion.
Dianthus (Malmaison) collection
Collections coordinators (volunteer)
Coordinators play a vital role as the link between Collection Holders in their area, and the conservation team, the local group and central office. We have vacancies for collections coordinators in a few areas.
Coordinators mentor and advise people who are interested in starting a collection, support new applicants, visit existing collections, and act as the local point of contact for Collection Holder queries. You will work principally with the conservation team who train, advise and support them.
If you are in (or near) any of the counties below, and would like to find out more, please contact the conservation team :
Herefordshire, East Midlands (covering Northamptonshire & Nottinghamshire, together or separately), Staffordshire, Hertfordshire & Bedfordshire.
The West Midlands including Warwickshire, and London are covered by neighbouring collections coordinators, but we will welcome enquiries here too.
Plant exchange coordinators (volunteer)
Plant exchange coordinators (volunteer)
If you enjoy being involved with plants and people, discovering new aspects of plant conservation, meeting like-minded people and travelling once a year to the national exchange, you may be a perfect Plant Exchange coordinator!
The Plant Exchange is open to all members, and we have areas of the country where we’d like to involve more people by having a local area coordinator. It is an excellent way to learn about and acquire rare and unusual plants. Please get in touch, particularly if you are in Cornwall, Scotland (apart from Dumfries and Galloway), central England, or Wales.