The Young People’s Forum was set up to help the Trust work better for young people and champion youth voices, whilst members gain skills, experiences and take action for nature in the process.

Eco anxiety is widespread among young people, but the wildlife charity believes this can be effectively addressed by young people having a sense of urgency in finding solutions to the nature and climate crisis, hence the creation of the Young People’s Forum.

Through the Trust’s extensive work with children and young people over the years, staff have seen the positive impact that being outdoors in nature has on everyone’s wellbeing. National research by The Wildlife Trusts, including the Department for Education, has demonstrated that access to nature improves resilience and educational outcomes.

Locally, nationally, and globally, humanity is facing multiple challenges from the collapse of natural systems and a warming global climate. As an organisation, the wildlife charity believes that putting power into the hands of communities and especially young people to reverse the nature and climate emergencies is vital if the UK is to restore nature and natural systems and regenerate local areas.

As a group, its members are advocates for other young people, leading change, creating greener communities, and inspiring others to become wildlife guardians of the future.  They will also represent the Trust at external events and play an active role in implementing the Trust’s Strategic Plan.

The group has met monthly from January 2023, learning about the work of the Wildlife Trusts across the UK and taking part in project consultations.

The group has decided that they want to create a project to tackle an issue they all feel passionately about - the environmental impact of the clothing that we all wear, with members planning to host a free clothes swap event with clothes mending and upcycling workshops in November 2023. 

Beyond monthly meetings, members have monthly 1-2-1 online ‘buddy’ meetings with Wild City staff in order to support skills development. 

But don’t just take the Trust’s word for it, here are the comments from the young people themselves about their hopes and dreams for the future and what it means to be part of the Young People’s Forum:

“I think it’s extremely important for young people to have a voice when it comes to the environment... and to inspire others to commit to making progress.”

“I would like to make a change to the way other people view the environmental issues and make it a positive experience.”

“I have realised that while individual action is a vital first step, there is only so much one person can do on their own and I’m really interested in working as a collective and learning new skills amongst like-minded people.”

“It’s been great to take responsibility and I really feel like I’m making a difference.”

“I’ve already picked up lots of organisational and life skills from planning our project that I know will help me in the future.”