Carlisle MP Julie Minns hosted an event in Parliament and met people who benefited from a nature-based jobs scheme.
Mrs Minns hosted the round table event and was joined by Minister for Nature Mary Creagh to hear about the New to Nature initiative.
The 12-month scheme, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, saw 95 young people from under represented groups take up a paid work placement at over 80 environmental organisations across the UK.
The roundtable was supported by the environmental organisation, Groundwork, which runs Groundwork North East and Cumbria.
The discussion centred on how politicians and policymakers can deliver on policy commitments on nature recovery and the environment in a way that creates more accessible employment opportunities and how to bring government, employers and funders together behind a shared plan for supporting young people from diverse backgrounds to grow their careers in the green economy.
Mrs Minns said: “Creating opportunities for young people is vital and I’m delighted to support programmes like the New to Nature scheme which expand access to exploring a career in nature. In Carlisle we have wonderful access to areas of natural beauty and biodiversity; I hope to see more young people growing up in the area be the ones responsible for their safe keeping in the future.”
New to Nature was created to test new approaches to help young people in particular to access jobs and career opportunities in a range of landscape and nature roles, supporting young people who are disabled or from a minority ethnic or an economically disadvantaged background.
