New youth programme in Kent & Essex to support aspiring environmentalists from under-represented backgrounds

New youth programme in Kent & Essex to support aspiring environmentalists from under-represented backgrounds - RSPB

4 young people dressed in blue standing outside a building — Greener Thames Youth Programme Trainees L to R George Reed, Emily Yokouchi, Amelia Hursham and Hashim Rehman (RSPB images)

A new youth programme has launched in Kent and Essex to support young people from under-represented backgrounds build careers in conservation.

The Greener Thames youth programme will also involve community outreach work, aimed at increasing engagement with groups in the region who face a variety of barriers when accessing nature, such as discrimination and a lack of physical access to green spaces.

A group of four aspiring environmentalists have now enrolled in the youth programme’s traineeship scheme, following a recruitment drive earlier this year in collaboration with socially driven outdoor groups Muslim Hikers and Black Girls Hike.

Over the next 12 months they will develop skills that will help them build a career in the environmental sector, including 4x4 driving and livestock handling. Trainees will also develop transferable skills, including public speaking and leadership training, that will help broaden their career opportunities and build confidence.

The youth programme has been set up as part of the Greener Thames Project (see notes to editors) – a £1.8 million landscape-scale conservation project that aims to restore and enhance over 1,800 hectares of wetland habitat in the Greater Thames Estuary.

The project is being funded through the government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund (GRCF), and run by the RSPB in partnership with Essex Wildlife Trust, Elmley National Nature Reserve, Kent Wildfowling & Conservation Association and Kent Wildlife Trust.

Ryan Cooper Henniker, Youth Development Manager for the Greener Thames Project, said: “As someone who is mixed-race and gay, it is such an amazing opportunity to be working on this project and providing real world opportunities for people from an array of backgrounds. I hope programmes like this will ignite change across the sector, it’s going to take every community and every individual to save nature. It has been a real pleasure to welcome our new trainees onto the programme. Their enthusiasm for conservation and the environment, and their desire to learn new skills is incredibly motivating for the whole team.”