Generation Green

The £2.5 million Generation Green project ran from December 2019 to March 2022. It connected over 100,000 young people to nature, created and saved jobs, and helped build a future workforce for a green recovery across the country.

Through new jobs, training, volunteering roles, residentials and outdoor and online learning experiences, the project provided more than 115,000 opportunities to connect young people to nature – many for the first time – and to cultivate a sense of care for the natural environment.

Read the Generation Green launch press release.

Download free resources to help young people connect to nature.

Generation Green in the New Forest

The New Forest National Park Authority was awarded a £65,000 grant to support a Wild Spaces Youth Project and apprentice rangers from April 2021 – March 2022.

The Wild Spaces Youth Project

young people toasting marshmallows around fire It provided groups of young people aged 11-25 with six to 10 day sessions including running geocaching and photography sessions to build confidence and projects to connect participants to the green spaces where they live as well as residential nights at YHA Burley.

Claire Pearce, Wild Spaces Youth Project Officer, worked with a youth group in Calshot, one of the Forest’s most remote areas. During the project she said: ‘They have a small outdoor space they can use and I’m working with them to come up with their own ideas about what they want to put in it.’. Part of the engagement process was to help the young people make short videos about their ideas.

Another Wild Space session involved PEDALL, an inclusive cycling project providing side-to-side or recumbent bicycles, which helped Claire take out a group of young people with learning disabilities.

‘There was a non-verbal young man in the group who had been very uncertain about this trip but I later learned he’d been literally bouncing with enthusiasm after trying cycling this way,’ she said. ‘His college said that you could see from his body language how much he’d enjoyed it and how much he’d gained from the experience.’

Claire is aware that many young people may not have experienced natural play areas and lack the confidence and knowledge to access wild places. ‘The youth projects and wild play breaks down those barriers – we try to do things which don’t need too much equipment so they can later replicate them nearer to home,’ she said.

For her, the biggest win is the on-going advantage created by her programme. ‘Often, you only discover this at the end of a project, when the young people tell you how much they’ve got out of it,’ she said, describing how several of the Calshot group told her they’d found it calming to be in nature.

‘Thanks to this project they now know how and where to go to find their quiet space closer to home, so they can continue to enjoy these benefits in the future.’

Apprentice Rangers

Man pulling up plants The scheme also funded apprentice rangers who spent time with six ranger teams across the New Forest including NFNPA, Forestry England, National Trust, Hampshire County Council, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, and the RSPB.

Through a placement with each partner organisation, they gained experience in a variety of ranger work, from public engagement and event delivery to site maintenance and practical habitat management. Apprentices also worked towards the Countryside Worker Standard via Kingston Maurward College in Dorchester. These new apprenticeships built on a Lottery-funded scheme which had already seen six New Forest apprentice rangers graduate.

Read Apprentice Ranger Ben’s blog post.

Generation Green Partners

Generation Green was delivered by the Access Unlimited coalition made up of YHA (England & Wales) – who hosted the project on behalf of the partners – The Outward Bound Trust, Scouts, Girlguiding, Field Studies Council and the 10 English National Parks.