MANY young people are becoming increasingly concerned and vocal about the state of our natural environment and the world that they will inherit.

We have seen young people across the world, and more locally in Somerset, organising marches, going on climate strikes and taking action to reduce their own environmental impact.

At Somerset Wildlife Trust we are keen to help support and foster this interest and involvement.

We kicked things off in March with a Youth Environment Summit Somerset (YESS), an online event involving some inspiring speakers and workshops to support young people wanting to champion environmental issues.

We had almost 50 young people attend from across Somerset and they had some amazing and inspiring ideas to share.

Over the next two years we will be working closely with The Ernest Cook Trust in running The Green Influencers Scheme for young people across Somerset.

The Green Influencers Scheme, funded by The Ernest Cook Trust, #iwill and the Ninesquare Trust seeks to empower young people, aged 10-14, to develop their own environmental action projects in Somerset and be the driving force behind galvanising their peers and local communities.

This project aims to nurture a lifelong passion for connecting with nature through environmental action and emphasises how young people can positively contribute to change within their local communities.

As part of our ongoing youth environmental action programme, Somerset Wildlife Trust are hoping to support the creation of a young person’s nature network which will provide a safe space for a wider age participation of young people across Somerset where they can share ideas, collaborate and support each other in positive environmental actions.

Linked to this, we will be setting up a Youth Advisory Board, who will make a vital contribution to the future of the Trust by working with our staff and Trustees to advise us on how best to support young people across Somerset by making their voices heard and making sure the work we do together is relevant to young people.

This will all play a very important role in the development of The Wildlife Trust’s Team Wilder approach in which we want to get more people connected with wildlife and nature across Somerset through local community-based projects.

If you are a teacher, youth worker, or a young person (aged between 10 and 14) and would like to find out more about our Green Influencers Scheme and how we may be able to support young people to develop their own ideas, please contact Somerset Wildlife Trust’s Green Mentor Sophie Cooper at Sophie.cooper@somersetwildlife.org.

SOPHIE COOPER
Somerset Wildlife Trust