Volunteering in parks and green spaces

Corporate volunteering

Clissold Park

Join in with a variety of volunteering opportunities at Clissold Park – from litter picking to conservation tasks. No experience is necessary. We provide tools and refreshments.

For more information and to register for your free ticket, visit Eventbrite.

Abney Park

For more information about Abney Park’s volunteering opportunities, visit Abney Park’s website.

If you have any questions about the following opportunities, email thomas.dawson@hackney.gov.uk or info@abneypark.org.

Green Keepers of Hackney

Every Thursday 9.30am to 1.30pm

This group maintains the wild woodland in Abney Park Cemetery. The team does all landscaping with great care for Abney Park’s unique ecology. 

You will need heavy-duty footwear as you will spend a lot of time off the main paths on uneven surfaces.

Abney Unearthed

Every Tuesday 10am to 2pm

Join our project to re-map and research the graves at Abney. You can take part in physical work on-site or desk-based research from home. Tasks include:

• adding details to the burial records
• researching the lives of those buried in the cemetery
• checking grave positions
• noting any missing names on a tablet
• creating displays, digital archives, and tours for future researchers

Grave Maintenance

Every Wednesday 11am to 1pm

Join Abney Park Trust in maintaining graves in the cemetery, including Commonwealth War Graves, private graves, and graves from our walks and tours. 

Some graves are off the open path and involve walking on uneven ground.

Litter Picking

Second Saturday of the month 10am to 12pm

Join Abney Park Trust and Abney Park Users’ Group for a monthly litter pick. Just turn up, meeting at the first junction from the High Street entrance.

Abney Park Trust volunteering opportunities

We work closely with Abney Park Trust who offer lots of volunteering opportunities and are currently looking for the following:

• Office and archival assistant
• Walking tour guide (both historical and ecological)
• Front of house and stewards for theatre events
• Creative volunteer roles: videographers, photographers, and designers to help create online content, promotional materials, and leaflets

For further enquiries about Abney Park Trust opportunities, email thomas.dawson@hackney.gov.uk.

Springfield Park

Join in with a variety of volunteering opportunities at Springfield Park. From litter picking to conservation tasks and everything in between. No experience is necessary, we will provide tools and refreshments.

For more information and to register for your free ticket visit Eventbrite.

Growing Communities

Growing Communities sites are open for volunteering from February to November on Mondays and Tuesdays, but are sometimes closed over holiday periods. Check here before coming to the sites during school holidays or on bank holidays.

Opening times:

• Mondays 10am to 4pm, at Springfield Park
• Tuesdays 10am to 4pm, at Clissold Park

Core Landscapes

Core Landscapes have weekly volunteering opportunities between 10am and 2pm on Tuesdays. Core Landscapes welcomes and depends on volunteer help with caring for their garden and plant nursery. Valuing volunteers’ time, skills and ideas are an inherent part of Core Landscapes’ ethos.

They aim to listen to their volunteers’ reasons for joining them and wherever possible, cater the activities to the particular areas of interest of the volunteer. Volunteers can have responsibility for particular areas within Core Landscapes for vocational and personal development.

Dalston Eastern Curve

Weekly gardening sessions take place every Saturday, 2-5pm from April – December. These sessions are an opportunity to look after Dalston Curve Garden, enjoy being outside, meet a great group of other volunteers and learn all about plants and gardening.

You don’t need to have previous gardening experience, but they do ask volunteers to try to commit to a minimum of 2 gardening sessions per month – this means you get to learn about gardening and enjoy all the benefits of volunteering at the Curve Garden and they build a strong, knowledgeable team.

London Wildlife Trust

London Wildlife Trust is looking for practical wildlife volunteers, community outreach volunteers and a volunteer education assistant at Woodberry Wetlands in Hackney.

Robin Hood Community Garden

To stay updated on ongoing events, open days, and bespoke gardening sessions in the award winning Robin Hood Community Garden, visit Robin Hood Garden.

Tree Musketeers

The Tree Musketeers are volunteers who plant, protect and help preserve trees in Hackney. They provide tree care and watering sessions as well as guided walks in a number of Hackney’s parks. The Tree Musketeers run regular volunteer sessions at the tree nursery and edible forest garden. Anyone is free to turn up at the following times:

• Wednesday, 10am to 3pm
• Friday, 10am to 3pm
• last Saturday of every month, 10am to 3pm

For more information, visit tree nursery location.