Liz Heard, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Eco Mentor and local school children test out binoculars during a trip to the Rising Sun Country Park. Image by NWT.
Amazing project comes to an end
A ground breaking scheme to engage young people in environmental social action projects has ended on a high with more than 6,700 taking part across England.
In this region, Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Green Influencers Scheme has now come to an end after three really successful years.
Under the Green Influencers Scheme, UK educational charity The Ernest Cook Trust helped 36 Host Organisations, including the Gosforth based wildlife charity, to fund the employment of 44 Green Mentors. Each Green Mentor enabled young people to lead the way as ‘Green Influencers’ on environmental social action projects.
The Scheme was match-funded through the #iwill Fund which is made possible thanks to a £66 million joint investment from The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Green Influencers took part in a number of projects including: designing and building an eco-classroom, creating a mindfulness garden and pollinator corridors, introducing a whole school recycling system and delivering a workshop at a national youth worker conference.
Two hundred and five young people took part across Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland engaging with 2,326 members of the public via community events and activities with young people showcasing their amazing ideas which then went on to become reality.
Liz Heard, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Eco Mentor says:
“We have worked with some truly amazing young people who have made a big impact on their local community and wildlife.
“The Trust may have helped them build skills to help them in the future and enriched their wellbeing and connection to nature, but, in turn, they’ve enriched the project so much - they should be very proud of what they’ve achieved. We're really excited to continue to deliver youth-led projects, so if you're a teacher or youth leader please do get in touch.”
Suzie Paton, Head of Grants & Partnerships at The Ernest Cook Trust, says:
“The Green Influencers Scheme showcased the importance of youth-led environmental action, which benefits the young people taking part and their wider communities, as well as the natural world as a whole. Young people have increased in confidence and skills, and communities involved are expressing more faith in the younger generation and more confidence in the future as a result.”
The Ernest Cook Trust is one of the UK’s foremost funders and providers of Outdoor Learning. It runs Outdoor Learning opportunities for children, young people, their families and communities on its own land as well as with partner estates. The Trust currently gives around £2m in grant funding every year to further Outdoor Learning and connecting young people to nature.