National Trust at Saltram has been helping young people to connect with nature and become junior urban rangers.
The Trust has been working in partnership with Plymouth City Council and the Real Ideas Organisation to create the award-winning Plymouth Natural Grid.
The Plymouth Natural Grid (PNG) collaboration began by recruiting Urban Ranger Kickstarters, creating opportunities for 10 local young people to develop skills for the workplace. Five more positions were created in April with discussions about extending the award-winning scheme.
Part of the project includes working with schools to help create the next generation of local Junior Urban Rangers, passing down their newly developed skills to inspire more nature loving advocates in the future.
As part of this 18-month long project, pupils of Cann Bridge School were the first set of young people to be the next generation of budding green workers. They set up a full day of outdoor lessons at Saltram which included pond dipping, den building, fun games and a huge group nature identification quiz. More schools are due to take part as part of this outreach section of the programme.
Dot Tye, who took part in the Kickstarter scheme and is now an assistant ranger with the PNG project, said:
“I’ve felt really grateful to have been given this opportunity and feel incredibly lucky. It has been a perfect step in between education and full-time work. Learning new skills and knowledge from the rangers and my colleagues has been beneficial and this Kickstarter placement has done that really well.’
“Working outdoors has had such a beneficial impact on my mental well-being – connecting with nature and like-minded others. As well as this it’s shone a different light on Plymouth as a city and its efforts in becoming a greener city, which helps me feel hopeful in this time of environmental crisis.’
Dot added:
“Working with the school at Saltram was a great opportunity to be a part of an exciting new campaign. I feel very strongly about everyone, especially young people, connecting with nature in a way that will inspire and motivate them to care for their surroundings, learn new skills and to see the range of potential work in the environmental sector.
“I personally never considered these potential opportunities when I was younger so it’s really encouraging to see young people learning and engaging in this way.”
Jez McDermott National Trust general manager, for Saltram said:
“The Urban Ranger Day hosted at Saltram was such a remarkable success for everyone involved. We could not be prouder of the partnerships we are working to build with Plymouth City Council and Real Ideas to create and run the PNG project. This event just shows how important and beneficial it is to engage our local young people with nature in their immediate green spaces within Plymouth.”
Councillor Bill Wakeham, Cabinet member for the Environment and Street Scene, said:
“Young people are so particularly important to future biodiversity, so I’m delighted that the council is part of this fabulous scheme. If we can instil a life-long love of nature in young people, then the future of our city will be in great hands.’
Over the next year the National Trust Urban Rangers will go on to inspire hundreds more Junior and Future Urban Rangers, so do get in touch if you or your school want to join them on their mission in caring for the environment.
