Horticulture proving the hero for unemployed young people

Green Team participants cleaning land at homes near Milnrow

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Groundwork is highlighting the fact that horticulture can also have a long lasting social impact by supporting young people who are not in education, training or employment (NEET) back into the workplace.

Run through its network of trusts across the UK, Groundwork’s Green Team initiative sees groups of NEET young people introduced to real-life projects in their communities, where they gain practical training in horticulture and landscaping.

Green Teams work on schemes to transform green spaces in their communities, often for local authorities, businesses and housing associations.

Retention rates for the programme are high and the charity attributes this to the fact that participants get their hands dirty on horticulture projects that make a tangible impact on their communities – working alongside other young people who have experienced the same employment struggles.

The scheme has proved a huge success with young people across the country. One local programme, delivered in partnership with Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, has completed over 150 improvement projects in the last 4 years on green spaces across Rochdale. During this time over 70 unemployed young people have taken part in the scheme and more than two thirds have progressed into work or training.

Paul Dockerty, RBH’s Environmental Co- coordinator, said: “Our collaboration with Groundwork on the Green Team has proved a great success. It has massively improved the lives of many young people in our communities, supporting them into work and providing them with valuable experience and skills. The improvements have been greatly received by tenants in our communities.”

As well as gaining basic employability skills, Green Team graduates from the Rochdale scheme emerge with a level one Certificate in Building Craft Occupations, a first aid qualification and a Construction Skills Certificate Scheme (CSCS) card, which allows them to work on any building site. They are also given employment workshops, CV-writing sessions and interview preparation to help them into further training and employment.

Sir Tony Hawkhead, chief executive of Groundwork, said: “We want to raise awareness of the fact that there’s more to horticulture than meets the eye and that it has the potential to change lives all over the UK.

“Concerns have been raised, rightly, in recent weeks by the Royal Horticultural Society and others about perceptions of horticulture among young people and the future of our green spaces given the dwindling interest in the great outdoors shown by younger generations.

“I would echo those sentiments and, as our Green Team programme shows, given the opportunity to make a tangible difference young people respond positively to working outdoors on real-life projects which have significant benefits for their community.

“While we’re not claiming to have found the silver bullet for youth unemployment, we have found horticulture can be an effective part of the solution and we would like to see this model replicated more widely across the country.”