Trust secures over £200k to boost learning

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has been awarded more than £200,000 from the National Lottery to boost its Learning Through Nature programme.

The trust has been awarded £222,000 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the scheme, which aims to engage people to help solve the nature crises.

It will use the funding to scale up its existing community programmes, including Nature Tots for 3 to 5 year olds and Junior Rangers for 11 to 18 year olds, and will offer subsidised accredited training to schools in five areas of Derbyshire.

The trust will also expand its Wilder Schools Programme to encourage more outdoor learning and will create six new traineeships to develop careers in community engagement and practical conservation following the success of its Working for Nature programme.

Lisa Witham, head of wilder communities at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, said: “Connecting people to nature is at the very heart of all the work carried out by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.

“We need people from all ages and communities to engage in solving the wildlife and nature crises, and in turn become healthier and happier from connecting with nature.

“We know that children are more motivated to learn when outside and can create a life-long connection with nature from an early age.

“However, there is an increasing disconnect between children and the outdoor environment.

“We are also acutely aware of the green skills gap and understand the need for a green workforce and more green courses.

“To halt the decline of nature, this funding, made possible thanks to National Lottery players via the Heritage Fund, will enable us to embed conservation skills and nature connection in more people from an early age and beyond to elicit a love of nature and better understanding of how to protect it.”