10 June 2022
The National Parks' youth voice conference took place recently in the Peak District National Park and brought together young people from all UK National Parks. This gave young people a chance to voice what they would like from their national parks , network with others with similar interests and develop key skills which will last them a lifetime. The youth representatives took part in workshops, discussions, question and answer sessions and a range of nature-based outdoor activities.
From the Lake District National Park Authority, three of our young volunteers attended. Here one of them, young ranger, Amy Jay tells us about her experience.
Our photo shows Amy at Buttermere after a shift doing car park duty.
I’m Amy and I am currently studying Geography at the University of Cumbria in Ambleside. I volunteer for the Lake District National Park Authority as I want to gain more experience in the conservation sector and want to give back to the environment I am living in, since I love the Lake District and being outdoors. I also wanted to meet like-minded people and have an extra excuse to get outside which has all been great, so it's a win win for me.
I jumped at the chance of attending the first National Parks UK Youth Voice Conference. It was such an amazing opportunity to meet with young people from every national park in the UK and discover the issues each Park faces and how they deal with them differently. I was also interested to hear what each park did for young people, as this is very important to me.
The first few hours we were there, each of the national parks introduced themselves and presented what opportunities they had for young people. I was heartened to hear of all the different ways national parks were trying to ensure that young people were involved in their work. I was proud when the Lake District National Park Authority spoke of our successful Young Ranger programme.
On the first day, all participants could choose an activity from hiking, cycling, wilderness therapy and tree planting. I chose the hike, which ended up being around 10 miles as we all got carried away in the wonderful weather.
When we returned we split off into two groups of over and under 18s for the workshops. We looked at what makes a good national park leader, focused on team work skills and discussed what the new Youth Manifesto was.
Our photo shows Amy on a hike up Barf in the North Lakes.
The second day involved another guided walk, which was bliss. In the afternoon we collaborated with the youth team from YHA England for a number of workshops, where we discussed ideas for funding events, issues faced within national parks and YHA and what we felt like needed to be done in national parks. We then divided ourselves in groups to create an action plan to present to everyone and senior leaders from National Parks England And YHA.
Our photo shows Amy's view from a walk in the Peak District during the Youth Voice Conference
Initially I was quite nervous as I hadn’t met anyone who was going but once I got there everyone just clicked and got on so well. I loved meeting people from all the national parks and hearing different perspectives and discussing how we can work together more. I am excited about this youth movement going forward and am excited to be a part of it.
I came away from the weekend feeling very inspired and motivated to get involved in volunteering even more and to increase more opportunities to young people in and around the Lake District to improve diversity.
Our photo shows Amy's view from a hike up Kinder Scout as an introduction to the Peak District National Park
Speaking with Amy Smiles, who is a female ranger for the Lake District National Park Authority, we are very keen to try and encourage more women into conservation careers and I am looking forward to supporting her with that.
I also left the youth voice conference feeling more confident in myself, as I now know that I have a powerful voice and can use it for good. I never used to be someone who spoke up about things and wanted to argue my point but the conference increased my confidence and I have spoken up more since coming back.
My final words are that I'd like everyone to know it's important to include young people in decision making for National Parks. I believe that this will encourage younger people to get outdoors more and to respect their environment they are living in or near. It will also inspire them and could help them find a pathway in life that they are really interested in. If you are living in or love the Lake District please get in touch and see where you could help out to engage and inspire other young people for generations to come.
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