Responsibility: Early one morning this autumn a team of six volunteers from Taylor & Francis, a publisher specialising in academic books and journals, set out to complete a day’s work building a winter home for great crested newts.

As part of its corporate social responsibility programme, Taylor & Francis has a policy enabling staff one paid day a year to devote to charity.

Although I love my job, I have always been passionate about environmental causes and the prospect of getting away from my desk and spending the day outside was too good to refuse.

The task: Our group soon found itself in the eco-heaven of BBOWT’s Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre. Although the centre’s main function is education, the land around it is also a reserve.

Our task was to build a hibernaculum for the great crested newt. Newts do not actually hibernate, but they are less active during the winter, so the hibernaculum gives them somewhere to stay safe from predators.

Originally there were two ponds that provided habitat for newts. Unfortunately both had been colonised by stickleback fish that damage newt numbers by eating newt larvae. So a new ‘newt only’ pond was dug, and next to this was the site for the hibernaculum.

Getting to work: Before we could get started we had a quick health-and-safety talk by volunteer Andy Gunn who made sure we would all be lifting and cutting safely. Rod D’Ayala, team leader for the day, told us about the newts, including my favourite fact of the day: all newts have different markings on their stomachs — like humans have unique fingerprints.

Although great crested newts are quite common in the Sutton Courtenay area, they are a protected species and their numbers nationwide are in decline, so BBOWT keeps detailed records of all the newts on site.

Exploring: Newt chat over, we divided into two teams, one to bring soil to put around the pond and on top of the hibernaculum, and the other to clear some trees restricting light over the pond (these also provided the base materials for the hibernaculum).

The teams worked hard throughout the morning, switching tasks halfway so the work was shared. By the time we broke for lunch, most of the task had been completed, giving us the chance to further explore the reserve in the early afternoon.

On our way back to the pond, Rod upturned a table and found the first (and only) great crested newt of the day.

There was much excitement within the team as we all got to see ‘our newt’. Rod measured and weighed him and took a photo of his underside markings to add to the centre’s records. The newt was then placed in a bucket of the pond water until the hibernaculum was finished.

For the rest of the afternoon, the team worked hard finishing the outside of the pond and planting. By the end, everyone was exhausted but happy, seeing the project finished, and the finale of seeing ‘our newt’ placed in his new home made it all worthwhile.

The day provided a chance to work alongside colleagues I did not know that well, enjoy exercise in the open air, and to feel a great sense of achievement when the job was done. I recommend volunteering to everyone; it is hard work but the rewards are great, and I for one will definitely be volunteering again next year. Get involved: To find out more about BBOWT’s nature reserves in Oxfordshire, or about volunteering with the trust (another great way to combine getting fit with wildlife spotting), visit www.bbowt.org.uk or call 01865 775476.