Fields in Trust has partnered with green space charity Groundwork and The National Youth Agency on the 'Future Proof Parks', programme funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The project is supporting Friends of parks groups and local young people to work together in a series of innovative projects which will support heritage parks and widen the understanding of their importance. The aim is to encourage young people to join their local friends of park groups and volunteer to preserve and celebrate the local spaces that matter to the communities they live in.
The three-year programme has been awarded funding through the National Lottery Heritage Fund's Kick the Dust programme, which aims to enable more young people to be involved in the UK's heritage.
'How To' guides to working with young people
These guides support green space volunteer groups in working with young people aged 14 to 24, by providing an introduction to key considerations when including teenagers and young adults in your activity. They can be read as a series or individually as relevant to your plans.
Working with young people
This short guide is designed to introduce you to working with young people in green spaces and precedes the other resources in this series, which look more in-depth at specific topics.
Empowering young people
This guide provides further information on how to deepen participation and tips on building the capacity of young people to have a say in your activities and in your wider community.
Including young people in your organisation
This guide provides insight, tips and tools you can use to: understand what young people are concerned about today; develop and plan your approach to inclusion of young people; consult with young people and develop an offer for them within your organisation.
Recruiting young volunteers
This guide provides you with the top tips on communicating with young volunteers; making the most of social media; planning a recruitment cycle; organising some fun offline activities.
Safeguarding young people
This guide provides a definition of safeguarding and why safeguarding matters to community groups; good practice in safeguarding for Friends groups and advice on where to get further support.
Working with other youth organisations
This guide provides you with insight into different youth-facing organisations, which will enable you to: approach organisations in different ways; plan an engaging session to deliver with another organisation.
Crowdfunding Toolkit
Developed by MyParkScotland with Groundwork UK this guide and accompanying workbook provides you with a comprehensive introduction to crowdfunding: what it is, what makes it different and how to do it.
Whilst these guides focus on teenagers and young adults, if you will be working with young childen outdoors then advice and guidance is available from the respective Home Nations Play Associations: Play England, PlayBoard NI, Play Scotland and Play Wales.
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