6-10th November marks The Wildlife Trusts' Hope Week. For the final day of Hope Week (10th Nov) we want to highlight and celebrate our young activists.

We spoke to some of our young activists about their involvement with Lancashire Wildlife Trust, what they enjoy about it and most importantly, their hopes for the future.

Izzy Cook, Youth Voice Officer

What made you want to join the LWT team?

I didn't enjoy school at all, so I took the job because I want to advocate for young people and help them discover there is a world outside of the classroom. The main thing I want to do is show young people that you can do good in the natural world on a tangible scale, and that you can act for wildlife no matter what you do.  

What's your favourite part of working at LWT?

The people! I LOVE getting out and talking to and learning from different young people from across our patch. Through my job I get to work across teams, including heads of departments and the Trustees, so the work is really varied and exciting.  

What is your hope for the future of youth activism?

I think it’s important that people don’t see the younger generation as the people who must fix the mistakes of previous generations. I hope every young person can be equipped with the skills, knowledge, space, and confidence to be able to stand up for what they believe in, and that they are listened to in the process.  

Abbie Hart, Chair of LWT Youth Council

What made you want to join the LWT Youth Council?

I joined the youth council because there are very few opportunities for young people to make an impact. I wanted to help change that, as no one should be excluded because of their age.

What's your favourite part of being a Youth Council member?

My favourite part about being a youth council member is hearing the unique input from my peers. It has really helped me to develop my own ideas and to think in ways I wouldn’t have initially. Each young person on the council has a really exciting perspective to offer, and it’s fantastic that they’re being heard.

What is your hope for the future of youth activism?

I really hope that in the future, there will be more ease of access for young people who would like to get involved with conservation and climate action.

Lauren Fairfax, Youth Council Member

What made you want to join LWT youth council?

I wanted to join the youth council as I love the natural world and I wanted to make a positive difference.

What's your favourite part of being a volunteer?

My favourite part is meeting like-minded people and sharing experiences with them.

What is your hope for the future of youth activism?

My hope is that more young people take action for nature and doing what they can to save our species. I hope that we can see native British wildlife recover as we have so much right on our doorstep.

Euan Norman, Youth Council Member

What made you want to join the LWT Youth Council?

I wanted to join the LWT youth council because I have always enjoyed volunteering with the aim of maintaining/improving my local environment. I saw joining the youth council as a very effective way to further this aim. 

What's your favourite part of being a Youth Council member?

My favourite part is being able get involved in the many opportunities offered by my position and being able to work towards discussed goals within a group of like-minded individuals.

What is your hope for the future of youth activism?

My hope is that opportunities to assist in helping the environment are more publicly addressed in school and wider settings.

It is easy to assume that the inactivity of some individuals is down to them not sharing a drive for helping out environmentally, when it may actually be due to practical volunteering events or meetings not being targeted towards younger people because people think that they don’t to want to be involved. 

An example of this being untrue is within my eco committee in school. People want to help towards a larger effort but may require direction or need a greater understanding of how they can take initiative. 

Curtis Mckenley, Senior Nature and Wellbeing Volunteer

What made you want to join as a volunteer?

What made me want to volunteer was the project officers on the MyPlace project and the confidence that they gave me over the time I was a participant.

It was also due to some of the connections that I made along the way, people telling their stories to me on sessions and the difference I could see in other people and myself. After that, I knew that I wanted more, so I started volunteering and never looked back.

What's your favourite part of being a volunteer?

My favourite part is the connections that I get to form with my participants and the joy that they bring to our sessions. Sure, we have laugh around, but these are young people who genuinely care about what they do and the impact that they can have.

Seeing them working on the reserve for the first time, learning for the first time and then seeing them leave as mature young adult fills me with pride - it makes me feel like a teacher whose year elevens are leaving high school!

Sometimes, seeing what they go on to do and every so often, seeing them again and hearing about how much they miss the project is my favourite part

What is your hope for the future of youth activism?

My hope for future environmentalists is that they will start to have a more holistic point of view when it come environmental issues. No one topic is what it seems to be from an outside point of view because conservation is not one thing or another – there are many different complexities working together.

It's my truest belief that before you can make a statement or challenge something, you first need to fully understand it. A prime example would be the gamekeeping and countryside sector. It's not what it used to be, and most of these people care about nature just as much as any conservationist. Again, in modern times gamekeeping students can't even pass their course without learning about ecology and conservation, so things are changing.