Three questions with an RSPB Community Engagement Officer

What is your role and what does it entail?

As the Community Engagement Officer for Greater Manchester, everyday is different. I have the wonderful job of working with our volunteers, local community groups, and young people to save nature in our patch. At the moment, we are trying to transform Manchester into a Swift-friendly city. That means surveying Swifts in the summer, putting up Swift boxes, and lobbying housing developers and councillors to put Swift bricks in their new builds. Little by little, we are trying to turn things around for our endangered Swifts!

Learn more about Swifts and how to build them a home

What current projects are you working on?

As my project is coming to an end in 2026, we are transitioning from a staff-led to a volunteer-led group. We have a brilliant team of RSPB Swift Champion volunteers who have been at the heart of the Swift City programme. We are now transforming this network into a new RSPB Local Group for central Manchester and Salford. As an RSPB Local Group, the team will have more autonomy over their activities; they will be able to fundraise; and can expand their horizons to other birds and wildlife. I cannot wait to see what this group will get up to in the coming years!

Roshni Parmar-Hill is an RSPB Community Engagement Officer

What has been your biggest success so far?

Our biggest success over the past 18 months must be the launch of the Swinton Swift Street. In collaboration with two of our amazing Swift Champions, Suzanne and Haldis, we were able to put up over 100 Swift boxes in a small neighbourhood in Salford. We identified that Swinton still had an active Swift colony, so we asked local homeowners if they would like to put up a Swift box or two. With the help of a vocational skills-centre, we were able to supply the neighbourhood with boxes free of charge. A local roofer diligently installed each box over the cold months of March and April. After months of hard work, we were able to launch the Swift Street in May with a fabulous street party accompanied by Swift-themed cupcakes, puppet making, and even a special appearance from one of our RSPB Ambassadors, Megan McCubbin. To top it all off, that special day in spring was heralded by the sight of Swifts soaring overhead, returning home from their epic migration to the UK from Africa.

What is your biggest challenge in your role?

My biggest challenge in my role is saying ‘no’! I have the joy of working in Manchester, which is brimming with local nature initiatives and community groups who want to help wildlife on their doorstep. Unfortunately, as we only have one RSPB Community Engagement Officer in Greater Manchester, I sometimes have to say no to amazing projects I wish I could work with. Luckily, we have built brilliant partnerships with other environmental charities and grassroots organisations in Manchester, so if there is a group I can’t support, then I can signpost them to another team. My dream is that one day we have an even greater RSPB presence in Manchester, and other urban areas, so we can support brilliant nature initiatives popping up in neighbourhoods across the country.

What message do you want to share with readers?

Working for the RSPB for the past 18 months has shown me that we are so much more than a ‘bird charity’. I have seen that we are also a society. The RSPB brings people together, changes lives, and builds community. In a world that can feel isolating and overwhelming, these pockets of friendship bound together by a common love for our planet and wildlife is so precious. Indeed, I think Emily Williamson, the woman who founded the RSPB in Manchester over 100 years ago, would be proud of the work we are doing in cities and towns across the UK.