The National Park Authority set up its apprentice scheme more than 20 years ago to help young people develop the skills and confidence to find jobs locally and therefore sustain local communities.
The practical skills programmes that we have run as part of our environmental conservation apprenticeship are training people in countryside management, farming and traditional building skills that are in short supply locally.
Having seen the benefits of our conservation apprenticeships to both the Authority and the wider community, we have extended the number we offer to include apprenticeships in business administration and finance and have plans to develop apprenticeships in new areas of work in the future. At the moment 14% of our workforce is made up of apprentices and as well as the 16 we employ, we support the employment of a further 8 apprentices within the National Park.
Despite significant cuts to our budgets in recent years, we are increasing the financial resources for apprenticeships and we see working with schools to promote apprenticeships as one of a range of options for all academic abilities as an important priority.
For the Authority, the rewards of apprenticeships are huge. For example, in a typical two years, a team of conservation apprentices will enrich 20 hectares of habitats, improve 40km of recreational routes and build or repair 4.5km of dry stone wall, hedge or fence boundaries. Without our apprentices, this work either wouldn’t be done or we would have to spend considerably more than the cost of our apprentices on contractors.
Ambar Hughes, now a Maintenance Ranger in the south of the National Park, says:
The support the National Park has given me to provide a well-rounded experience has been amazing.
Not only did I get the very best on-the-job training from our experienced apprentice supervisors allowing me to get the job I love, but we are supported with all aspects of career and personal development. Though being an apprentice many doors have opened for me, allowing me opportunities to speak in local schools, give presentations for our staff and at national conferences and even travel internationally representing the NYMNP.
I have gained nationally recognised qualifications in both my Level 2 and Level 4 apprenticeships, and I have been trained officially in the use of different tools and machinery like chainsaw, brushcutter and digger which would be very costly to do yourself.
I would urge anyone who is thinking of it to apply for an apprenticeship as they provide a practical way to gain valuable work experience, earn a salary while learning, and receive nationally recognised training in a real-world setting.
Andrea Brew, Countryside Ranger Apprentice (Level 4) says:
The Apprenticeship programme offered by the North York Moors National Park Authority deserves to be shouted about!
As a mature-age woman who was seeking a career change into the world of conservation and land management, undertaking an apprenticeship has given me skills and knowledge I could never have imagined gaining.
I first completed the Level 2 Countryside Worker, and I am soon to finish the Level 4 Countryside Ranger. The Level 2 is guided by the supervisor but the Level 4 has more variety and scope and can almost be as vast as you want to make it. I have done everything from using hand saws to building footbridges, and surveying water voles to creating habitat for butterflies.
The National Park allows apprentices numerous training opportunities from PAT Testing to chainsaw to trailer driving to 360 digger. If you had told me four years ago that I would be driving a mini digger I would have laughed in disbelief.
Across the two apprenticeships, my knowledge of flora and fauna has increased exponentially, as well as issues related to climate change and methods of nature recovery, which has immeasurably enriched my life.