Shropshire Green Influencers Project
Supporting young people aged 10-16 to take environmental social action
The Green Influencers scheme funded 40 Green Mentor posts based in Host Organisations across England, supporting groups of young people in their environmental social action projects.
The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department of Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) each invested £25 million seed funding to create the #iwill Fund. The Ernest Cook Trust acted as a match funder and awarded grants on behalf of the #iwill Fund.
At Shropshire Wildlife Trust we received grant funding and as a ‘Host Organisation’ recruited our Green Mentor who helped create, support and oversee groups of Green Influencers within their community.
Only 4 in 10 young people that want to take part in youth social action, actually do. In disadvantaged communities, where young people are less able to access the many benefits of taking such action, this figure is even lower. Their communities don’t enjoy the full potential of their talent, energy and ideas. Most young people just need to be given the opportunity to take part.
The Green Influencers project aimed to help overcome this issue by supporting young people to identify their passions, get to know the needs of their communities and peers and to design and deliver environmental action projects. The Green Mentor encouraged the young people to engage with others their own age with the purpose of, in turn, encouraging them to take part in volunteering or engage in social action.
Project updates - The work of our Green Influencers
Litter picking @ Madeley Academy
Madeley Academy
At Madeley Academy, a group of Green Influencers in Year 7 noticed a lack of biodiversity on their school grounds, and chose to do something about it. They decided to improve the area for bees by creating a wildflower garden in an unused patch of grass, that now provides an essential source of pollen for bees and other pollinators in the spring and summer. The group found this project so fulfilling that the school decided to set up a second group of Green Influencers in Year 8 who worked on a litter picking project to improve their local community.
Eco Fete @ Shropshire Wildlife Trust
Eco Fete at Shropshire Wildlife Trust
A Green Influencers group based in Shrewsbury organised and hosted an eco-fete aiming to raise awareness for environmental issues and raise money for two charities – Shropshire Wildlife Trust and WWF. The fete was a great success and they were able to raise £684.69!
‘We came up with the idea to hold an eco-fete during lockdown as we are concerned for our planet and believe that if everyone makes small changes it can have a big impact. Without the support of local businesses, our friends, families and Shropshire Wildlife Trust we wouldn’t have been able to hold this event! Thank you to everybody who supported our event, we really appreciate it!’ – Izzy and Abbey, two members of the Shrewsbury Green Influencer group.
Pond creation @ Queensway North School
Queensway North School
At Queensway North School, a Green Influencer group decided to improve their forest school by attracting more wildlife to the grounds creating a mini pond and a bird feeding area.