This year (2010/2011) the bat group is running a fully subscribed course for bat group members who are interested in training for their Roost Visitor Licence. The roost visitor licence will enable them to conduct Voluntary Roost Visits on behalf of Natural England. Roost visits are one of the most important things the bat group undertakes in terms of bat conservation. The Roost Visitor can help persuade the householder to maintain the roost within their property.  Each year pipistrelle bats are excluded from over 100 buildings; without Voluntary Roost Visitors the numbers would be much higher.

For the dates of the meetings, see the calendar.

The training currently consists of evening lectures and workshops spread out over a period of eight months. Following this trainees who have ‘survived’ will continue their training on a one to one basis by attending roost visits.

Without being formally enrolled on the training course you can gain experience or get involved in the following ways:

• Come to our winter talks and meetings and visit other groups
• Volunteer to help at public events
• Sign up for the National Bat Monitoring Programme (BCT website)
• Volunteer to become a bat rescuer, this will help to familiarise you with bats in the hand. NB all handlers and carers must be vaccinated against rabies.
• Come along to or volunteer for organised walks and talks (see events list on website)
• Attend conferences (See events list on website)

The bat group also has a whole host of activities planned for the coming year including, surveys of particular areas, bat box checks, and roost counts (again see events page for details).

Without a licence it is also possible to undertake:

• Conservation and research
• Protection, improvement and construction of roosts or bat boxes
• Habitat maintenance
• Surveys (eg to identify suitable sites, for roost finding, using bat detectors (feeding sites/routes, identification), involvement in national surveys); monitoring (eg by summer roost counts, bat detectors, national schemes); behavioural studies (eg roost use /emergence / mobility, field studies with bat detector); data analysis (eg of records, droppings, roost counts, roost sites); literature searches (eg for records, historic sites, suitable (eg underground) sites)

If you have some ideas but are not sure where to start it is best to come along to one of our meeting to discuss your ideas.

Whatever you do get involved in it is worth keeping a logbook as a record for yourself and as evidence of your experience for any prospective trainer. The logbook can be as simple or as detailed as you like but the more detail the better. You should try to include details of dates and location along with the type of roost/activity, include a description of the surrounding habitat and details of what you learnt. It is also a good idea to record details of those you were with.

Bridget, one of our current trainees, has decided to keep her logbook in the form of a blog

Most trainees will receive an education and conservation licence at the end of their training. This means that they can undertake Natural England roost visits. This type of licence does not allow you to undertake commercial work, i.e. apply for European Protected Species (EPS) licences. If you are a consultant we would strongly recommend that you do the Bat Conservation Trust's Bats and Bat Surveys foundation course.