Editing The Conservation Volunteers

{{Short description|British charity}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}

{{Infobox organization
| name                     = The Conservation Volunteers
| image                    = The Conservation Volunteers Logo.png
| caption                  = The Conservation Volunteers logo
| type                     = Charity
| founded_date             = 1959
| vat_id                   = 
| registration_id          = 261009 in England and Wales; SCO39302 in Scotland
| founder                  = 
| location                 = Gresley House, Ten Pound Walk, Doncaster DN4 5HX, UK
| coordinates              = 
| origins                  = 
| key_people               = [[David Attenborough]], TCV Vice President<ref name="whoweare">{{cite web | url=https://www.tcv.org.uk/about/who-we-are/governance-and-key-values | title=The Conservation Volunteers – Governance | access-date=26 March 2013 | publisher=The Conservation Volunteers}}</ref>
| area_served              = United Kingdom<ref name="charityframework">{{cite web|title=Charity framework, text from governing documents of BTCV |url=http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityFramework.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=261009&SubsidiaryNumber=0|publisher=[[Charity Commission for England and Wales]]|access-date=19 September 2010}}</ref>
| product                  = 
| focus                    = Volunteering, Environment, Health & Wellbeing, Learning & Skills.
| headquarters             = Doncaster
| method                   = 
| revenue                  = £10.6m [[GBP]] (2023/24)<ref name="charitycommission">{{EW charity|261009|The Conservation Volunteers}}</ref>
| endowment                = 
| num_volunteers           = {{circa|13,662}}<ref name="charitycommission"/>
| num_employees            = 244 <ref name="factsfigures">{{cite web|title=BTCV Facts and Figures|url=http://www2.btcv.org.uk/display/facts_and_figures|publisher=BTCV|access-date=19 September 2010}}</ref>
| num_members              = 
| subsid                   = 
| owner                    = 
| former name              = BTCV, British Trust for Conservation Volunteers<ref name="charityframework" />
| homepage                 = {{URL|https://www.tcv.org.uk/}}
| dissolved                = 
| website                  = www.tcv.org.uk
| footnotes                = 
}}
'''The Conservation Volunteers''' ('''TCV''') is a British charity that connects people to green spaces through [[volunteering]], focused on environmental [[Conservation ethic|conservation]] through practical tasks undertaken by volunteers. Until 1 May 2012, it traded as '''BTCV – British Trust for Conservation Volunteers''').<ref name="charityframework"/>

==History==

===The Conservation Corps===
In 1959 the (then) Council for Nature appointed Brigadier Armstrong to form the Conservation Corps, with the objective of involving young volunteers, over the age of 16, in practical conservation work.<ref name="newsci1959">{{cite news | title=Tidying up the Nature Reserves | date=26 February 1959 | pages=448–449 | newspaper=The New Scientist}}</ref> The corp's first project was at [[Box Hill, Surrey|Box Hill]], Surrey,<ref name="newsci1959" /> where 42 volunteers cleared dogwood to encourage the growth of [[juniper]] and distinctive [[Chalk Group|chalk]] [[downland]] [[flora (plants)|flora]].<ref name="third2009">{{cite web | url=http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/archive/881675/Bellamy-celebrates-50-years-volunteering-BTCV/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH | title=Bellamy celebrates 50 years of volunteering with BTCV | access-date=7 March 2011 | date=18 February 2009 | work=Third Sector}}</ref> One of the volunteers present was [[David Bellamy]], who went on to become a Vice President of BTCV.<ref name="whoweare"/><ref name="third2009" />

By 1964 the Conservation Corps had expanded its activities to include education and amenity work in the [[countryside]]. In 1966 it moved from a basement office at Queens Gate, [[Kensington]], to new premises at [[London Zoo]] in [[Regent's Park]]. In 1968 the first training course for volunteers was held. By 1969 membership had increased to 600, and volunteers completed around 6,000 workdays a year. The first ever international exchange visit to [[Czechoslovakia]] that year became the forerunner for the International Project Programme of today.

===The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers===
In 1970 the Conservation Corps started to operate under the new name of British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV), with [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Philip]] as Patron and [[David Attenborough|Sir David Attenborough]] as Vice President. In 1971 the local group affiliation scheme was launched.
* In 1975 the BTCV Membership scheme was started
* In 1984 BTCV moved its headquarters to [[Wallingford, Oxfordshire|Wallingford]], Oxfordshire, while the former BTCV [[Scotland]] region was established as a separate charity, registered in Scotland and headquartered at Balallan House, [[Stirling]]. Operating under the new name of '''The Scottish Conservation Projects Trust''' (SCP), with [[Charles III|Prince Charles]] as Royal Visitor, SCP continued the work of BTCV in Scotland until 31 March, 2002, when SCP ceased trading and BTCV resumed its former role in Scotland.
* In 1998, BTCV joins forces with Dr William Bird of Sonning Common Health Centre in Oxfordshire to introduce the BTCV Green Gym project.

===BTCV===
The organisation underwent a second change of identity in 2000, taking the initialism BTCV as its new name in full.<ref name="companieshouse">{{cite web | url=http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/e988e778c3b46f936f2d7ba338358163/compdetails | title=Companies House: Company details | publisher=[[Companies House]] | access-date=9 July 2011}}</ref> 
* In August 2006 BTCV moved to its present headquarters in [[Doncaster]]. The new "environmentally friendly" building features a [[sedum]]-covered roof – hence its name – Sedum House. The Scottish office is in Stirling and the Northern Ireland office in Belfast.

===The Conservation Volunteers===

In May 2012, BTCV [[rebranding|rebranded]] under the [[trading name]] The Conservation Volunteers (TCV).

In 2014, TCV welcomed [[Jonathon Porritt|Sir Jonathon Porritt]] as President.

In 2024, [[Charles III|His Majesty The King]] became The Conservation Volunteers' new Royal Patron.

==See also==
* Green Gym
* [[Trust for Urban Ecology]]

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
* [https://www.tcv.org.uk The Conservation Volunteers website] including more detailed history.
* {{EW charity|261009|TCV}}
* {{Scottish charity|SC039302|TCV}}
{{Conservation organisations}}{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conservation Volunteers, The}}
[[Category:Environmental organisations based in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Nature conservation organisations based in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Charities based in South Yorkshire]]
[[Category:Environmental organizations established in 1970]]
[[Category:1959 establishments in the United Kingdom]]