Volunteer with livestock

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with livestock. Our waiting list is full so we've suspended applications for now. We'll update this page as soon as applications reopen.

What lookerers do

Cattle, sheep and ponies graze a number of important conservation and ancient chalk downland areas in the city. We have volunteers, known as lookerers, who help keep an eye on our livestock.

Lookerers need to:

attend a lookering course
check the livestock and make a report
spare one hour a week while the livestock are on site
be able to walk on quite steep, uneven slopes, where the livestock graze
have a mobile phone, to receive any updates on the livestock, text reports and contact us in case of emergency

Apply to become a lookerer

Our waiting list is full so we've suspended applications for now.

Take part in training

We provide volunteers with a free, one day training course held at Stanmer Park or Waterhall Local Nature Reserve. The courses cover both theory and practical training.

Theory

You'll learn about:

conservation grazing: why we graze
the grazing year: what happens when
common livestock ailments: what might happen
livestock and the law

Practical

You learn how to:

handle a sheep, this is useful but not essential to be a lookerer
install and maintain electric livestock netting, because part of the daily check is to make sure fencing is secure

Once you're trained as a lookerer, you'll be asked your availability for when the livestock are on site.

You'll be allocated times on a rota when you'll be responsible for checking the site. Each check should take no more than an hour and does not have to be at an exact time. The rota will usually specify morning or afternoon.