Eco Influencers' Scheme

PROJECT

Eco Infuencers

As the impacts of climate change intensify every year, more and more young people are joining the movement to take action and raise awareness to protect our planet and wildlife.

Eco Influencers provides opportunities for young people aged 10-18 to design and deliver their own environmental social action projects that really make a difference. From outdoor eco classrooms to mindfulness wildlife gardens and recycling campaigns, young people across the region are leading the way.

Don’t be afraid to dream big or think any project is too ambitious. Young people have lots of amazing ideas, and we want people to know that all these ideas can come true if you believe and work hard.

Eco Influencer from Newcastle

How the project works:

Demmi Robinson and Liz Heard are our Eco Mentors at Northumberland Wildlife Trust and work closely with schools, youth and community organisations within Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland. The details:

An Eco Mentor visits the school, youth or community group to run extra-curricular regular sessions, helping young people develop skills and lead an environmental or community project of their own design.
Sessions can fit around the group’s timetable and can be part of an existing club or a newly set-up group; we just ask that a member of staff is present.
This is fully funded, so there is no cost to the group. We help the group to secure funding to deliver their project idea.

Get in touch to get involved

Eco Influencer Projects

So far, we have supported eleven groups in their ideas to create wild projects that include: the creation of an eco-brick greenhouse, plan for the building of a solar-powered eco-classroom with living walls, developing wildlife-friendly gardening areas, and working with a local street artist to create a mural that educates the community about climate change.

Eco influencers - Gosforth East Middle School

Gosforth East Middle School – Outdoor Eco Classroom

Eco influencers - Collingwood Primary School

Collingwood Primary School – Pollinator Corridor and Polytunnel

Eco influencers - The Bostey Youth Group

The Bostey Youth Group – Wildlife Garden

Gosforth East Middle School – Outdoor Eco Classroom

‘The Planet People’ have designed an ambitious £20,000 project to build an outdoor eco classroom. The classroom will be built in winter 2023 using reclaimed and sustainable wood, eco bricks, living walls and will be solar powered. Their aim is to inspire sustainable construction, divert waste from landfill and encourage more outdoor learning.

Collingwood Primary School – Pollinator Corridor and Polytunnel

Collingwood Eco Warriors created a pollinator corridor on the edge of their school grounds by removing turf and sewing wildflower seeds. They have also involved teachers and community volunteers to construct a polytunnel so they can grow fruit, vegetables and native flowers in the north-east climate!

The Bostey Youth Group – Wildlife Garden

The Bostey Eco-Warriors in Walker have revamped their outdoor space to create habitats for wildlife and a youth group growing zone for fruit and veg. They’ve done regular community litter picks and involved lots of people in their project to bring wildlife back to Walker.

What are the benefits of the project?

From running the project since 2021 we know that by participating, Eco Influencers:

Feel closer and more connected to nature
Gain skills like leadership, teamwork, event planning, fundraising and public speaking
Feel more confident and empowered to take action for nature
Increase their knowledge of local wildlife and environment
Feel calmer and less anxious, due to their deepened relationship with nature
Have new opportunities like visiting nature reserves or volunteering

If you are a teacher, youth leader or community leader working with 10- 18 year olds, please get in touch by emailing liz.heard@northwt.org.uk or demmi.robinson@northwt.org.uk.

Get in touch