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Fairly new to butterflies and moths but an old hand at volunteering
Marian Newell
February 2026
Work history
I trained as an electronics technician with the Ministry of Defence, doing a four-year apprenticeship at a quality assurance establishment in Kent. In my first job after that, I drifted into writing reports and instructions. Finding that suited me better than more technical roles, I took a City & Guilds course in Technical Authorship and began a 15-year career as an employed writer. The most enjoyable position I had was with a flight simulation company on the south coast – most people there were passionate about the work and I don't think I appreciated at the time how rare that is!
Not enjoying office environments much, I became a freelance and that enabled me to study part-time for an MA in Technical Communication. I worked through my own limited company for about twenty years, having some good long-term relationships with appreciative clients. Favourite projects included documentation for banknote sorting machines and war cemetery maintenance.
Voluntary roles
I was brought up going to church, although I'm lapsed now, and I think that was the foundation of my belief in giving something back. I saw my much-loved mother helping with activities and was encouraged to do the same, especially with regard to visiting elderly people both in their own homes and in residential care. A friend and I gardened for a particularly lovely lady.
There was a hiatus during my training and early career, as there seems to be for many people, until freelance working gave me more flexibility and enabled me to take on unpaid tasks. Some related to my work and it was for a professional association that I first edited and laid out a journal. Alongside this, I carried out a vehicle utilisation assessment for what was then the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, wrote press releases for Surrey Wildlife Trust's work parties and walked dogs for a rescue centre.
Since moving to Shropshire in 2012, I've acquired secretarial and financial roles for our village hall and church respectively. I became involved in basic monitoring for Butterfly Conservation and that led to a role as editor of the magazine for Butterfly Conservation West Midlands.
Walking along the Severn near home with Trixie, our sixth rescue dog
West Midlands Butterfly and Moth Society
Like Jenny in January's My Volunteering Story, working with Mike Williams was to play a key role in my plans. He was always a huge help to me in producing the branch magazine and that gave me confidence to support the new group he proposed. I agreed to take on secretarial and publications roles, and here we are. I'm conscious how little I know compared with lifelong Lepidopterists and conservationists, but we all bring different skills and experience and that can only make us stronger.
It's been good to rethink what's actually needed to carry out practical conservation work and pare back everything else. We have a strong core team and lots of support through the personal relationships that active volunteers have forged over the years.
The important thing now is to attract more people to participate. Do consider what you can do to help with work parties, moth mornings, butterfly walks, identification workshops and promotion of our group at events for both the entomological and regional communities. And let us know if you have suggestions for projects and activities we haven't thought of yet.
I live on the edge of the Dudmaston Estate near Bridgnorth and will be joining the butterfly monitoring team for the National Trust's Sandscapes project this summer