en:volve

Whether you are looking to gain the experience you need to take your first step on the environmental career ladder, or simply wanting to use your spare time to do something worthwhile for your community or environment, Sheffield Wildlife Trust can offer a volunteer opportunity to suit you.

We are always looking for full-time, part-time and casual volunteers to help in all areas of our work – including publicity, marketing, administration, nature reserve management, ecology, education, community work, youth work and events. Please get in touch and we will be pleased to arrange something that meets your needs and interests.

Consultation

Consultation informs a large part of our work as well as being a service we provide to organisations across the city. The benefits of consultation are undoubted and numerous to include;

• Develops new skills – communication, negotiation, teamwork etc.
• Provides an educational experience
• Engenders sense of responsibility for oneself and others.
• It’s often fun & sociable
• Raises self esteem
• Increases knowledge & understanding between people
• Ensures people are better placed to make the right decisions
• Increases a sense of ownership over the project and its outcomes

Our staff have the knowledge and skills to engage young people to think about how they use their local environment to help them make informed decisions about how they can influence changes to their green space. Through active listening and collaboration we have worked with local neighbourhood groups and communities to secure significant funding to deliver these projects and make these changes happen.  Through community consultation, involvement and engagement we have jointly been able to transform many underused sites into vibrant community resources and empowered young people to manage this process from start to finish.  We also aim to accredit young people’s contribution where appropriate and to date we have offered ASDAN Citizenship Award, John Muir Award or Duke of Edinburgh Award, OCN Environmental Skills and NVQ’s Environmental Conservation.

Through consutation we have discovered the follwoing information concerning young people and the environment;

• Young people value their local environment and they are interested in improving it. 
• Young people already spend a lot of time in local parks and greenspaces
• Young people do not expect lots of very expensive equipment – but they want their parks to be places where they feel safe and welcome.  This may include installing lighting, seating and shelter and ensuring parks are well maintained.
• Young people would like to have opportunities to take part in projects about their environment or community
• Young people often feel that they are not part of their local community
• Young people have enjoyed the projects that they have taken part in and they value the support of a youth worker. 
• Young people have indicated that they feel that other young people would like to be involved in similar projects
• Young people are pleased when they see that their ideas have been listened to (for example in the regeneration of parks) but they are disappointed if their ideas are not incorporated. 
• Young people value having a sense of ownership

Wider consultation by the Wildlife Trusts across the UK in 2008 provided the following statstistics;

• 88% of the young people we work with told us that they would like to have the opportunity to suggest new projects,
• 85% told us they were concerned about climate change and thought we should (all) do something about it
• 78% told us that being outside helped them relax and feel happier about life generally
• 92% said young people should have more opportunity to make a difference to their environment.

All this goes to show that young people are passionate about caring for and improving their local and global environment. We at en:volve are equpped to support young people to do exactly that.

If you you are interested in partnering with us on a consulation project or would like us to to deliver consultation with young people on your behalf please contact a member of the en:volve team.

Training and Consultancy Services

En:volve can provide bespoke training courses and accreditation for young people. We have a range of opportunities for individuals and professionals alike – whether you are looking to develop skills, gain practical experience, enhance your knowledge or gain a recognised qualification, we will have the right course for you.

Alternative Education

We are able to provide alternative education contracts with schools, colleges, PRU’s and third sector organisations and again this can be tailor made to your requirements. We currently run ASDAN, John Muir, and Duke of Edinburgh programmes.

ELB Diploma

We will begin delivering the Environment and Land Based Diploma’s for 11-19’s as part of a consortium in South Yorkshire from September 2009 and are happy to provide further information about the diploma if required.

Safeguarding Children Outdoors

The Trust can provide experienced staff to train & help organisations develop procedures to safeguard children in outdoor activities including looking at risk assessment, reporting procedures & child protection. Contact the training team to discuss.