Most of what needs doing in Swanage costs nothing but time, and none of it needs you to be an expert. Count butterflies, fix a toaster, map a footpath or help clear the beach. Whether you have ten minutes or a few hours a month, there's something here for you.
Every way to help is gathered below, grouped by subject. Each one links back to its priority page, where you'll find the bigger picture.
Help your neighbours find warmer homes, lower bills and cleaner energy with the Purbeck Energy Group.
We bring together people from Swanage, Wareham and the villages around, from complete beginners to engineers with decades in the industry. We're small, friendly and always glad of new members.
Our Solar Streets Swanage scheme brought 90 enquiries and 21 solar installations. The £1,150 it raised paid for an energy-saving leaflet delivered to more than 11,000 Purbeck homes.
Made changes to your home that you'd be happy to show people? Dorset Greener Homes is always looking for hosts.
Know of a village hall, church or business roof that would suit solar panels? That's exactly the kind of lead we need.
Had work done, well or badly? Tell us who did it and what happened. If you run a local business that does this work, send us your accreditations and the area you cover.
Help make it easier to get around Swanage and Purbeck without a car, with better buses, safer cycle routes and walking.
Stand at a set spot for an hour and record the people walking or cycling past. These counts are an essential part of most funding bids.
Is there a junction you avoid? A road you would cycle if it felt safer? A school run that worries you? Every location you name makes the case stronger.
Swanage has good paths and no map of them. If you know the alleyways, cut-throughs and shortcuts, or you can help with design and printing, we'd like to hear from you.
Purbeck Transport Action Group meetings are open, and you don't need to represent anyone. If you use the buses, walk to work, cycle with your children or struggle to get to a hospital appointment, you know something the group needs to hear. PTAG is also looking for a new secretary.
Help Swanage throw less away and put more to use, from mending to cutting single-use plastic.
If you can mend clothes, toys or simple electricals like kettles and toasters, come along to a Repair Café at Herston Village Hall for a chat.
Take part in our plans to work with businesses and residents in the town to cut single-use plastic.
Know a shop or scheme that takes something our where to recycle list doesn't cover? Every addition makes the guide more useful for the whole town.
Using up and being creative with what you already have is a skill worth spreading. If you have tips, tricks or projects that keep things out of the bin, we'd love to share them.
Help nature thrive in and around Swanage. Our volunteers count wildflowers, butterflies and swifts, and care for the town's trees. None of it expects you to be an expert or to turn up every week.
Help record the wildflowers in the town's meadows. We'll train you, and you'll learn alongside others in a small, friendly group. The surveys show how changes to mowing are affecting the flowers.
Counting butterflies is one of the most enjoyable ways to help, and it tells us a lot about how healthy a habitat is. Our volunteers walk fixed routes through the summer on the Downs, Prospect Green and other public green spaces.
Help protect the swifts of Swanage and Purbeck, remarkable birds whose numbers are falling. We map where they nest, help people put up swift boxes, and help homeowners spot when building work could destroy a nest.
The Friends of the Downs survey the Local Nature Reserve above the town. We're keen to hear from anyone interested in insects. Get in touch and we'll set up a community meeting with speakers and build a group. The Town Council is willing to pay for the training.
The Town Council is appointing trained volunteer tree wardens. Alongside that, our own group is finding pockets of land where residents would like trees, checking who owns them, what lies beneath and which species would suit.
We want to map every hedge, verge, garden and green space around Swanage, then find the gaps that stop wildlife moving and work out how to close them. If you like maps, or walking with a notebook, or simply know your patch well, that's enough to start.
Most of the land within ten miles of Swanage is looked after by organisations that welcome volunteers.
Join more than 150 volunteers: practical work parties, a Tuesday group restoring the Victorian pleasure grounds, and shifts welcoming visitors at the Castle. Tasks suit all ages and abilities.
Track the wild beavers at Studland with the Purbeck Beaver Project, or help with fencing, scrub clearing, footpaths and welcoming visitors.
Run the visitor welcome, help on the reserve or take part in surveys at one of the best places in Britain for reptiles.
Help protect the bay, from the seagrass meadows to the beach, with Beyond the Sand and our partners.
Our marine community group supports the Town Council's Motion for the Ocean pledges. Help with any of our projects, or just join the group:
If you dive, join the Isle of Purbeck Sub Aqua Club's project to map the seagrass in the bay. It's the richest habitat in the bay and the least understood, and the survey has already found far more than anyone expected.
Sunday mornings. Winter is when help is needed most.
Beach Buddies are well supported in summer. Winter is when the storm litter arrives and the volunteers thin out, so that's when an extra pair of hands is worth most.
Tell us what you enjoy and how much time you have, and we'll point you to the right group. Or come along to one of our events and say hello.