Volunteer for the Association
Friends and Supporters | Volunteers

The Scottish Wildcat Association is an entirely voluntary organisation; we strongly believe that bringing together dedicated volunteers is an ideal charity structure which leaves the vast majority of financial donations and income available for directly benefitting the Scottish wildcat.

We're always interested in hearing from anyone who can spare us a little time in any capacity but at present we do have a short wish list we'd be especially interested in hearing from anyone about! If you're interested in volunteering we'd love to hear from you, drop us a line telling us how you'd like to get involved or anything useful you've got experience doing, we look forward to hearing from you; click here to send an e-mail.

Leaflet distributors; worldwide
We need help from people all over the world, and especially in the UK, to get our wildcat awareness leaflets out to as many relevant locations as possible. Typically volunteers take a few hundred leaflets and then go about placing them in their local wildlife parks, cat shelters, cat shows, pet shops, Scottish tourist info centres, Scottish hotels and so on, helping raise awareness of the threats to the wildcat and of the Association. We need people who are persistent and polite and that can guarantee to either place all their leaflets or send back any spares! Whilst it is far from the most exciting task it makes a huge difference to wildcats in creating public awareness and charitable donations.

Newsletter contributors; worldwide
Every three months we produce a newsletter for our members which is sent out almost entirely by e-mail. We're keen to hear from anyone interested in submitting articles about wildcats, wildlife, Scotland, conservation and pet cats as well. We do expect typical journalistic standards and excellent written English but anyone with a good idea for an article is very welcome to submit.

Wildcat Haven; based in Scotland, open worldwide
Wildcat Haven is a major long term project to widely neuter feral cats across Scotland and survey the wildcat population in the process; over the next 15 years it has the potential to create a 7000 square mile safe haven for wildcats with a rapidly growing population of around 900 individuals.

Taking place annually between September and February only in the West Highlands of Scotland, the work is all outdoors requiring a reasonable level of fitness for hillwalking and a strong spirit to brave the very cold and wet weather! Volunteers for mid-winter months December-February must have some previous experience of working outdoors or hillwalking in very cold conditions and for the moment we need all volunteers to commit at least two weeks of their time unless they live very locally in the Lochaber region. In future years we will be creating opportunities for those with less time or limited experience to get involved!

The pay off is experiencing one of the most stunning parts of Scotland, a huge cross section of the native wildlife (pine martens, sea eagles, otters, golden eagles, basking sharks are all common sights in the area) and being part of the project that really can save the wildcat.

Volunteers will need to bring a few essentials like proper walking boots and sleeping bag plus a small donation towards the food bill, we'll provide expert mountain leaders, all the project equipment, high end tented field camps and a comfy log cabin base camp to get an occasional break from the weather!

Political lobbyist; Scotland / UK
We're keen to get more of a ball rolling on political lobbying; engaging with politicians, explaining to them the urgency of the situation and convincing them to make changes that can protect the wildcat; we are keen to speak to anyone with some previous experience or understanding of the process who can organise an ongoing campaign!

If you're interested in volunteering we'd love to hear from you, drop us a line telling us how you'd like to get involved or anything useful you've got experience doing, we look forward to hearing from you; click here to send an e-mail.