Balfour Beatty Day 2026

VOLUNTEERS RETURN TO WATCHTREE NATURE RESERVE FOR ANNUAL BALFOUR BEATTY DAY

WIGTON, CUMBRIA – Watchtree Nature Reserve has once again joined forces with Balfour Beatty and its regional supply chain partners for the annual Balfour Beatty Volunteer Day. Held in memory of former colleague Grant Taylor, the dedicated work day saw teams assemble to carry out vital accessibility upgrades, habitat maintenance, and site infrastructure improvements.

Grant Taylor tragically passed away in 2022 at the age of 22. Having played a central role in establishing Balfour Beatty’s charitable support for the nature reserve, his vision lives on through this annual collaborative effort. In continuing the tradition, volunteers wore high-visibility clothing bearing the ‘GT22’ logo to mark his enduring contribution to the site and community.

This year’s event focused on four major operational projects across the 205-acre reserve:

• Zig-Zag Path Resurfacing: Volunteer teams resurfaced priority sections of the zig-zag path, clearing loose stones and vegetation before laying and compacting a fresh top layer of dust and fines. Utilising heavy machinery alongside manual tools, the upgraded surface ensures smoother, more durable access for wheelchairs, mobility aids, and pushchairs.
• Infrastructure Maintenance & Prep: Teams utilised specialised towable pressure-washing equipment brought on-site by Balfour Beatty to deep-clean storage shipping containers prior to repainting. Additionally, high-pressure washing and structural repairs were completed on the outdoor decking and mud kitchen in the Education Zone.
• Pond Wood Woodland Conservation: A large work party tackled environmental management in Pond Wood, successfully removing used plastic tree tubes from around established trees. The discarded tubes were extracted, bundled into dumpy bags, and prepped for full recycling.
• Seasonal Decoration Refresh & Workshop Setup: Volunteers across a variety of ages came together to repair, repaint, build, and craft spooky characters using timber salvaged on-site and recycled paint kindly supplied by Rebuild. The combined efforts of the multi-generational team produced a collection of handmade displays designed to bring extra magic to Watchtree’s upcoming free Halloween trail.

Following the morning work session, volunteers and staff gathered at Howdens Hut for a joint barbecue lunch, providing a welcome opportunity to reflect on the morning’s achievements, share testimonials, and acknowledge everyone’s hard work. The lunch was filled with warm conversations about Grant Taylor, with colleagues, friends, and family sharing memories of his time at Balfour Beatty. Attendees reflected on how proud Grant would be to see how his initial idea has grown into such an impactful annual tradition, bringing together so many people each year to transform the reserve he cared so much about.

Ryan Dobson, Manager of Watchtree Nature Reserve, said:

“Every year, Balfour Beatty Volunteer Day delivers a massive boost to our ongoing site maintenance and accessibility plans. The sheer amount of work achieved in a single day, from path resurfacing to deep cleaning our education spaces, would take our small internal  volunteer team weeks to accomplish alone. We are incredibly grateful to the Balfour Beatty team and their partners for their continued dedication to Grant’s memory and to keeping Watchtree inclusive for everyone.”

Rachael Dodgson, Project Engineer at Balfour Beatty said:

“This annual volunteering day is a special opportunity to come together with our supply chain partners to make a lasting difference at Watchtree Nature Reserve while honouring the memory of our colleague Grant Taylor, whose passion and commitment helped establish our relationship with the reserve.

The work completed reflects the collective efforts of everyone involved and the positive legacy Grant continues to leave behind.”

Watchtree Nature Reserve extends its sincere thanks to GAP Group, Sunbelt Rentals, Heidelberg Materials UK, National Highways, WSP, SP Electricity North West, Kier Group, UES, and Careys, alongside all individual volunteers, for generously donating equipment, materials, and time to ensure the success of the day.