Most people visiting London for the day would perhaps go sightseeing or to see a West End musical but yesterday I went to discuss a project about getting young people involved with nature and the environment.
We caught the train from our local station at 9:00 and arrived in London just after 11. We then caught the tube to the Park Green station and walked through Green Park to the building where the conference was being held. I managed to get a few photos whilst walking through Green Park and it nice to see people enjoying the green spaces within London, not just the built up areas. There was some unusual wildlife here though, for instants a turkey! Along with lots and lots of grey squirrels, gulls and pigeons.
When we finally arrived, after stopping about every few foot steps to take photos, and the conference began I got to learn more about this exciting new project which is all about getting young people (aged 11-24) involved with nature and improving their local environment. It will take the form of a portfolio made up of around 30 individual projects across the UK. The Big Lottery Fund plans to invest £30 million across the UK to support these projects. The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts is the leading consortium which has been chosen by The Big Lottery Fund. Other members of the consortium include Centre for Sustainable Energy, Community Service Volunteers, Field Studies Council, Plunkett Foundation, The Conservation Volunteers, vInspired and Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust.
Our Environment Our Future is all about young people shaping their local environment and acquiring new skills for the future. Outcomes of this £30 million investment include:
- Make a significant change in the quality of our urban and rural environments.
- Increase the ability of young people to improve places that are important to them and to influence the attitudes and decisions that shape their neighbourhoods and communities.
- Catalyse change led by young people, by investing in both the direct improvement of the environment and the development of young people.
The Wildlife Trust, along with the other 7 members of the consortium, are now managing the portfolio investment and along with The Big Lottery Fund are working to identify and asses individual portfolio projects. They are now calling for expressions of interest from potential portfolio projects. If you are interested in applying to lead a project as part of the portfolio click here or if you’d like more information click here. You have until 5pm on the 17th of December to submit your Expression of Interest form.
Overall it was a great day for me as I feel very passionately about getting young people involved with nature as they are the future. I also enjoyed meeting 8 other young people from the other members of the consortium as they all feel passionate about the environment in different ways. After the conference we also had some time to go and see the poppies at The Tower of London. They had already started dismantling them but they still looked fantastic.
Georgia Locock 
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