Steep Holm island needs volunteers to help run it

Steep Holm sits five miles off the North Somerset coast

The trust that runs an island five miles off the North Somerset coast says it's desperate for people to help run and maintain it.

Steep Holm, which sits in the Bristol Channel, is a site of special scientific interest and home to Victorian military installations.

It's run by the Kenneth Allsop Memorial Trust, which needs more volunteers.

The island, which is half a mile long, is only reachable at high tide, meaning day trips there last 12 hours.

Mark Harris is a trustee and deputy warden. He's been coming to Steep Holm for 15 years and says it's a special place.

Mark Harris has been travelling out to Steep Holm for 15 years

"It's unique, it's in the Bristol Channel, it's five miles out to sea. It's a challenge to get here but, when you get here it's really worthwhile," he said.

The trust has 20 volunteers who help maintain the island, doing everything from making tea and coffee for visitors to clearing paths and even dry stone walling,

Mr Harris says they need around another 20 more people to help.

"Without the volunteers the island wouldn't exist. The volunteer's input is critical and we feel it's very important to spread the history so everyone can know what's going on out here," he said.

People who sign up can make as many trips as they like - there are normally between 20 and 25 sailings each year - and volunteers are needed for all of them.

Maureen Gillet says being on Steep Holm is "lovely and relaxing"

'Lovely and peaceful'

Maureen Gillet has been volunteering since she finished work in 2005. She clears paths, paints and helps run the cafeteria.

"I just like it over here - the people, the visitors are nice. It's so quiet, it's lovely and peaceful, it's relaxing in a funny sort of way," she said.

Steep Holm is a bird sanctuary where gulls nest

The occupation of Steep Holm dates back thousands of years. Vikings used it as a secure base from which to raid the mainland.

The Victorians fortified the island, and massive gun batteries were built in World War Two.

No humans have lived there since the 1920s, but between May and late July it is home to more than a thousand pairs of nesting gulls.

Visitors are often divebombed by the gulls as they protect their chicks.

'A whale stuck in the sea'

Members of the public can visit the island on one of the day trips run between April and October, and last year about 900 people made the journey.

Gary Goodwin lives in Weston-super-Mare, and said visiting the island is something he'd always wanted to do.

Gary Goodwin said he had always wanted to visit Steep Holm

"55 years I've been looking at this island from Weston, and when I was a kid my dad said it was a whale stuck in the sea," he said.

"I believed it until I was about 10. I just wanted to come over and explore it."

Anyone interesting in becoming a volunteer is asked to get in touch with the trust via the Steep Holm website.

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