A huge number of people make Fix the Fells possible, from the online donater to the specialist footpath repairer. Fix the Fells helps develop skills for on the ground teams and volunteers.
A day in the life
by Nic Fish, Fix the Feller
"I work for the Grasmere and Great Langdale Upland Footpath Team. After leaving Bangor University with a degree in Leisure Management, I decided that it was about time to find myself a career.
I have always spent most of my free time in the countryside. Having been brought up in the Yorkshire Dales, hill walking has been a huge part of my life. So naturally I found myself looking at jobs in the outdoors. And what better place to start looking than on the National Trust website? However it wasn't as easy as that, not many jobs came up in the Lake District and the few that did were soon snapped up.
This is when I stumbled across the volunteer section on the website and I soon found myself volunteering every Monday with the Coniston Upland Footpath Team. I was working outside and I loved every minute of it. It was just a shame I could only do one day a week, then it was back to shop work.
Then after 4 months volunteering, some jobs came up on each footpath team. I grasped the opportunity with both hands and haven't looked back since. Doing such a skilled job has made me appreciate the hard work that goes into every bit of pitching, every dry stone wall built, every drain put in. Before starting the job I didn't realise the constant maintenance that goes into keeping this beautiful countryside looking as spectacular as it does today.
I have a lot of skills to learn still , but I shall look forward to testing and pushing myself even further in the years to come. Maybe even in a bit of sunshine, perhaps next year!"
