New Forest Apprentice Rangers, where are they now?: Hayden and Jake

New Forest Apprentice Rangers, where are they now?: Hayden and Jake

Since 2016, the New Forest National Park Authority has supported 14 apprentice rangers alongside partner organisations.

These 12-16 month paid apprenticeships involved diving into a variety of tasks, from carrying out conservation work and wildlife surveys, assisting with public events, and looking after country parks and nature reserves.

They also took on placements at Forestry England, the National Trust, Hampshire County Council, RSPB, the Countryside Education Trust and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, with learning sessions at Sparsholt College and Kingston Maurward College.

As part of Green Careers Week 2024, we checked in with some of our apprentice rangers past and present to see how the opportunity sparked their green career paths.

This is part one of this series, click here for part two and here for part three.

Hayden and Jake

Hayden and Jake completed their apprenticeship in 2019. Hayden is now our North Area Ranger, she was also awarded the Alfred Toepfer Natural Heritage Scholarship leading a local initiative to enable refugees to access the UK’s National Parks. Jake currently works as a ranger for our nearest national park, the South Downs.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your time as a New Forest National Park apprentice ranger.

Hayden: ‘Before I did my apprenticeship, I actually did a photography degree. I then had a quarter-life crisis and didn’t know what to do with my life or myself! That’s when I looked at volunteering abroad. So I signed up to volunteer on a turtle conservation project in the Caribbean and it opened my eyes to a whole new sector I didn’t know existed – working in the outdoors to protect nature. I found what I wanted to do, so I then spent the next three years getting experience in internships and in seasonal roles from Malaysia to Ascension Island before coming back to the UK and looking for opportunities to continue my career, and that’s when I found the apprenticeship!

‘My time as an apprentice was brilliant and genuinely life-changing. I gained so many skills and contacts in the field and came away with qualifications, hands-on experience and a chance to continue building a career in conservation. I couldn’t recommend apprenticeships enough.

‘My favourite moment was meeting so many like-minded people and feeling like I’d found my calling. I couldn’t believe that coming to work didn’t feel like coming to work.’

Jake: ‘Before completing my apprenticeship with the NFNPA, I completed a Bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology at the University of Portsmouth and also went travelling across the world working as a scuba dive guide – Getting to visit places like Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan and Switzerland.

‘I initially decided to apply for the apprenticeship because I had a keen interest in ecology and conservation and had been volunteering with Hampshire County Council. I saw the apprenticeship as a potential entry point into purely working outdoors, with little idea of the opportunities out there. I learnt a variety of skills, from chainsaw tickets to attending butterfly and pollinator training courses.

‘For me, by far the most valuable part of the apprenticeship was getting to spend time with partner organisations and seeing how they work across the landscape.

‘My favourite moments on the apprenticeship were the last day of each placement – a bittersweet moment leaving each team, but it was brilliant to look back upon what I had learnt through each placement of the apprenticeship.’

What’s one thing a ranger can’t do without?

Hayden: ‘A sense of humour and a good pair of walking boots.’

Jake: ‘A supportive team! Being on apprenticeship is all about your time working with other teams, and to be paired with such brilliant and supportive teams throughout the process has enabled me to progress to where I am today.’

How did your apprenticeship help you get to where you are now?

Hayden: ‘I was fortunate enough to get an assistant ranger position with one of the partner organisations I did a placement with on my apprenticeship. It was a brilliant chance to continue to develop my skills as a ranger, I learnt so much. From educating school groups to troubleshooting car parking machines – I definitely feel I earned my stripes as a ranger working in one of Hampshire’s busiest Country Parks!

‘After this role, a position as an Area Ranger came up back with the NPA which I still can’t believe I got and is my real-life job! I get to help people understand and enjoy the beauty of the New Forest but also help protect it. A proper pinch me moment.

‘I wouldn’t be where I am today without my apprenticeship. It combined my passion, voluntary experience and seasonal roles and gave me the tools to be confident and competitive in the conservation field. I was able to gain qualifications and on the ground experience with partners across the National Park. That’s what was so special about this apprenticeship – the variety of experience you gained, from working with a charity to local government, you get to see the breadth of the sector and understand how each is different. That depth of knowledge really helps you when applying for roles afterwards.’

Jake: ‘This apprenticeship was the first step into my career today and equipped me with the tools to make my first few steps into this industry, whilst giving me insight into partner organisations across the New Forest worked together.’

Why are green careers important to you?

Hayden: ‘Green careers are important to me because they’re integral to protecting our planet. They’re important to talk about too because not everyone knows about them and that you can have a career in the outdoors! Not everyone is suited to working indoors behind a computer, but when I was at school that’s what I thought work was. But there are so many other possibilities and there’s something to fit everyone’s skillset. If you haven’t found what you’re passionate about or haven’t found your thing – try being outdoors. There really is something for everyone.’

Jake: ‘We are in an environmental crisis, so spending time with landowners and working with them to set aside land for nature is essential if we are to preserve biodiversity across our landscape.’

What advice would you give to someone starting out and looking for a green career?

Hayden: ‘Keep an open mind and try everything! You never know what it might lead to. And volunteer! That way you get to try so many different things before committing to a career and you get to build up your experience with organisations you might want to work for.’

Jake: ‘Get out and volunteer! Seeing people in action and working for a variety of organisations is the best way to figure out which role is for you and determine a route to reach that point.’

This is part one of this series, click here for part two and here for part three.

Find out more about the New Forest National Park apprentice rangers programme here.