Global Team Image Library Volunteer

About Plantlife

Plantlife is the global charity working to enhance, protect, restore and celebrate the wild plants and fungi that are essential to all life on earth. With two in five plant species at risk of extinction, biodiversity loss is now the fastest it’s ever been and Plantlife’s work has never been more vital. Plantlife champions and accelerates conservation action, working at the heart of a global network of individuals and organisations, to influence and inspire landowners and land managers, public and private bodies, governments and local communities. As time begins to run out, Plantlife’s position as the global voice for wild plants and fungi will help to bring lasting and positive change to our natural world – for everyone’s sake.

Plantlife speaks up for wild plants and fungi globally, bringing awareness to and promoting the critical role they play in maintaining the balance of ecosystems, providing fundamental resources and supporting life on earth. With two in five plant species at risk of extinction, and still so much to learn about both plants and fungi, Plantlife’s work has never been more vital.

About the role

Acknowledging how crucial images are for communication, evoking emotions, conveying our messages clearly and quickly, and engaging audiences by transmitting information in a more accessible and memorable way, Plantlife has recently improved its digital image library so that staff across the organisation can upload their images to a central repository.

The Plantlife Global team has amassed many images from around the world, from various partners in relation to our Important Plant Areas (IPA) work and from attending global events. These images are vital for showcasing our work globally as well as our strong collaboration with partners. We are seeking a volunteer to help audit, organise and catalogue these images, so the best of our images can be accessed easily and efficiently. This role will involve working through folders of images, selecting those that are engaging and of good quality, labelling, organising, checking for permissions and archiving as appropriate. This is a hugely valuable piece of work for Plantlife which requires a conscientious and enthusiastic person, who is organised and has a good eye for detail.

Note - In line with GDPR best practice, volunteers who we offer the opportunity to, will be asked to provide details of two suitable referees. Please ensure you have known referees for more than 6 months and they are not a partner, close relative, or Plantlife employee. Former or current work colleagues, friends, and neighbours that have known you for more than 6 months are some examples that would be fine.

Location: Home based

Benefits

You will be a valuable part of our Global Team and will have the support of a dedicated volunteer manager. Volunteer Manager: Claire Rumsey, Global Advocacy Coordinator.

Opportunities to gain experience and skills in:

Administration, organisation, planning, and time management skills.
Remote working and task planning.
Being part of Plantlife’s Global Team and contributing to its expanding work programme.
Digital literacy and utilising Microsoft Office packages.
You will be able to develop your knowledge of conservation of wild plants, lichens and fungi.
As a volunteer you will have the opportunity to take part in training and development opportunities as well as our programme of member and volunteer events.

Key activities

Reviewing images for quality, deleting duplicates and images not useful, adequate or relevant for the global library.
Labelling, tagging, organising digital images with a botanical / landscapes / project work focus from around the world.
Reorganising the global image library in a clear and systematic way.
Supporting the upload of these images into the new Plantlife Digital Image Library.
Liaising with your volunteer manager regularly by phone and email to update them on your progress and discuss tasks.
Completing a Plantlife online induction prior to starting your volunteering.
Keeping a note of your volunteer hours and reporting them to your volunteer manager monthly.
Attending training and development as necessary relevant to your volunteer task / role.
Adhering to the Plantlife volunteer agreement, policies, procedures, and guidelines.

Experience skills and interests Skills / experience / interests required for the role:

Proficiency with switching between online platforms such as SharePoint, Outlook, and various search engines for internet searches.
Interest in and enthusiasm for nature / conservation and / or the natural sciences
Comfortable with working remotely unsupervised, but confident to ask for help from colleagues and problem solve when needed.
An organised and reliable person with a methodical and detailed approach to your work.
Comfortable with tasks that may become repetitive but where an eye for detail needs to be maintained.
Access to a computer/laptop and the internet.

Time commitment

This remote volunteering opportunity is not restricted by distance or location. Volunteering time is flexible and can fit around the volunteer’s personal commitments. Ideally, we are seeking someone who can give approximately 8 hours of their time a week, however, the role is flexible and will accommodate any time a volunteer is prepared to contribute. Volunteering hours don’t have to be completed all on the same day and can be outside of organisational working hours (typically Mon-Fri 9am-5pm) to fit around other commitments.

Expenses

Travel is not expected for this role, however, expenses will be reimbursed for any travel we ask you to do based on public transport cost or mileage at Plantlife standard rates for volunteers. Expenses must be agreed in advance with your volunteer manager.