Volunteer Bat Care Helpline Project update

Every year the National Bat Helpline takes thousands of calls from members of the public who have found grounded and injured bats. During the summer months, we receive our highest numbers of enquiries and, as you will have seen through your bat care work, an Out of Hours (OOH) Helpline is operated from May to September to ensure as many bats as possible receive the help they need.

The OOH Helpline is operated by trained volunteers ranging from beginners to experienced bat workers and everyone in between. This year, we are extending the usual Out of Hours Project. For the first time, in addition to manning the emergency service on evenings, weekends and bank holidays, volunteers will also be providing valuable support for bat care-related calls during office hours.

We recently started recruiting for volunteers and had an incredible response. We are pleased to say that recruitment has exceeded our expectations and 120 volunteers have already been successfully recruited for the project!

Each volunteer will now be attending a virtual training day before carrying out their ‘Bat Watches’ in the summer. Volunteers receive full support from BCT staff throughout the project.

As all available spaces on training days have now been filled, we are opening a waiting list in case spaces later become available. It is also likely that we will be recruiting for more volunteers later in the year to continue in-office hours support.

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has signed up to volunteer and for all of the amazing support we have received for the Volunteer Bat Care Helpline so far.

More information about the project and how to sign up to the waiting list can be found on the BCT website. If you have any questions please email outofhours@bats.org.uk.