Lottery funded nature programme appoints new youth board member

A high calibre of young people responded to the call-out for a youth voice to join the board of a major nature recovery and public access programme across the North Pennines AONB and UNESCO Global Geopark, and the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

The North Pennines AONB Partnership and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority are working together to deliver ‘Tees-Swale: naturally connected’, a natural heritage programme funded primarily by the National Lottery Heritage Fund that puts farmers and land managers at the forefront of nature recovery in the nationally important landscapes of Teesdale and Swaledale.

The successful candidate, Olivia Stones, was appointed following an interview with Professor Sir John Lawton, Chair of the Tees-Swale Board, and Dr Niki Rust, the North Pennines AONB Partnership’s Tees-Swale Programme Manager.

The Youth Board Member will play an essential role in helping to oversee the governance of the programme. They will attend four board meetings per year and can get involved in training, visits and other events. Through the board meetings, they and the other board members will scrutinise the work of the staff team working on the Tees-Swale programme, ensuring effective delivery. They also have a particular role in advising the board on key issues and experiences of young people and will help to shape the strategic direction of the programme.

Twenty-two-year-old Olivia saw the call-out for a youth board member through her local Farmer Network and said “I feel strongly that it is down to my generation to push forward to bring about a positive future for agriculture”. The final year Agri-Business student at Harper Adams University is no stranger to farming, as she lives and works on her parents’ farm in Arkengarthdale. Olivia hopes that the position as a youth board member will help her to forge stronger relationships with the community and knowledge of farming in the two dales where, once graduated, she intends to establish a farm accountancy and a sheep scanning business.

Niki Rust, the North Pennines AONB Partnership’s Tees-Swale Programme Manager, said: “We’re delighted to recruit a passionate young advocate for nature and farming to the board. Olivia has a wealth of skills and experience that will greatly benefit the programme”.

Through the Tees-Swale programme, the AONB Partnership and National Park Authority are working together across two designated landscapes and collaborating with farmers, landowners, conservation organisations, communities, volunteers and partner organisations. The public benefits delivered will include climate change mitigation, flood-risk management, and tackling biodiversity loss. These are nationally important landscapes and the programme will engage more people in what all these places have to offer. The AONB Partnership and National Park Authority will  encourage and support visits and activities by local schools and by youth and community groups from nearby urban areas, to help them better understand the wildlife, the landscapes, and the ways of life of the people who live and work here, and above all to enjoy and explore these dales.

With thanks to lottery players and The National Lottery Heritage Fund.