Summary
Green skills programme trains and funds young people to set up their own environmental projects and gain skills and confidence in the process.
Name
Green/Blue Influencers Scheme
Provider
Child Dynamix and The Ernest Cook Trust
Staff work in response to the wants and needs of the people they support to provide a variety of activities and experiences that creates a community where people can thrive.
Staff at Child Dynamix recognised a need to engage young people with nature and the environment and the Green Influencers Scheme offered the perfect opportunity to not only make a difference to the environment but allowed youth voice to lead the way.
Green Influencers was a £3mn scheme run by educational charity, the Ernest Cook Trust, aimed at helping young people to lead the way on environmental social action projects – to become “green influencers”.
The scheme was match-funded through the #iwill Fund. Under the scheme, The Ernest Cook Trust funded local organisations to employ green mentors. Each green mentor then recruited young people as green influencers.
More than 7,000 green influencers, mainly aged between 10 and 14, set about devising and delivering a range of innovative schemes, including seed swaps, hedgerow mapping, recycling old phones, and creating wildlife spaces.
Based in East Hull, Child Dynamix supports some of the most underserved communities within the city.
We try to target groups and individuals that have an interest in nature, who want to have their voice heard in meaningful ways, but also mindful to involve those who will really benefit from the opportunity.
Suzy Rowe is the lead youth worker at Child Dynamix. Previously the “green mentor”, she has now taken on the role of “blue mentor” for the Blue Influencers, the successor project to the Green Influencers, to continue youth-led work for nature for a further three years.
She says the Green Influencers Scheme had been “a great success”.
“We engaged with around 160 young people from different parts of the city, completing 12 unique projects, each running anywhere from six weeks to 16 months. They influenced classmates to whole communities,” she said.
The groups created sensory wildlife gardens, linked activities to wellbeing and nature connection, explored soil science and skills for growing, made and installed nature trails in public parks, contributed to citizen science efforts, conducted beach cleans and conservation action.
“Some groups campaigned at public nature events, operating a stand to share their efforts and generate awareness,” explains Rowe. “From these activities, young people improved their local green spaces and even created some amazing nature themed games to share with others for education and influencing others to do their bit.”
Child Dynamix collaborated with several local organisations such as Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Hull University (Risky Cities), PATT Foundation, The Deep, Friends of Alderman Kneeshaw Park and enhanced the reach of one group by joining forces with the Erasmus scheme, sharing lessons with international students in Spain, Germany and Norway.
“The young people on these projects not only grew in knowledge and skills, such as communication, teamwork and practical work, but in confidence too,” Rowe adds.
“By the end of the project, they felt capable and driven – they felt like their voice meant something. That was really special.”
In each of the projects, young people had to complete a survey at the start and at the end to measure the impact it had on them. After each activity, reflections and feedback was given, so individuals had the opportunity to share what they liked or what they would change – this helped the mentor support the flow of work in line with what the young people wanted and keep it as youth-led as possible.
Rowe says: “Since running the Green Influencers Scheme we have seen an increased interest in nature-based activities, so we are really excited to have been given the chance to dive in again with the Blue Influencers.
“Hull is at high risk from coastal erosion and flooding. Some of the families we support were affected by the 2017 floods, so ‘blue spaces’ and climate action are important for our city's young people to consider.”
Key outcomes
- Some 31% of Green Influencers came from some of the most deprived areas in England, with 33% from black or ethnic minority backgrounds.
- By connecting with nature, more than 60% improved their confidence and wellbeing.
- The projects they devised reached thousands in the wider community, with more than 300 engagement events reaching an estimated 41,000 people, and over 800 volunteering events drawing in more than 2,800 people.
- Nearly 70% of Green Influencers plan to continue with youth social action projects and 96% of the projects they worked on are continuing.
