Developing Greenskills in West Lothian

in november, five young trainees successfully completed their Greenskills traineeships with tCV to deliver greenspace improvements across West lothian and further afield. the West lothian Greenskills programme ran between march and november 2022 and was funded by players of People’s Postcode lottery. through practical, hands-on experience, the programme aimed to give the young trainees valuable skills and knowledge to progress onto a positive destination, be that the world of work or otherwise as an active citizen.

the Greenskills trainees were Evyn Hollinger (17), Ben Stoddart (18), Logan Bainbridge (18), Leigh Herd (19) and Ethan Shaw (20). throughout their traineeship the team were supervised by Joe Williams, tCV Senior Project officer*. Here, Joe (second from left above) outlines what the programme entailed:

We recruited the trainees through previous project partners in West lothian, including Helping young People engage (HyPe), Skills training Programme (StP), and the Street league charity. the programme’s recruitment criteria were for young people who had left full time education within the last two years and who would have been subjected to the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, and when leaving education were not progressing onto a positive destination. the trainees had a limited knowledge and awareness of the natural environment and did not have regular exposure to local greenspaces and some of the fantastic natural sites that Scotland has to offer. Something we wanted to change! the trainees undertook a range of practical environmental and biodiversity improvements:

• 150 trees planted

• 130 metres of hedge planted

• 72 metres of waterways managed

• 19 homes for wildlife created

• 3,075 square metres of woodland managed

• 400 wildflower plugs planted

• 990 metres of paths maintained

• 13,772 square metres of meadows managed

• 1,000 square metres of invasive species cleared different sites, over a quarter of which were classed as being in the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods, according to the Scottish index of multiple deprivation (Simd). the team were put through a number of accredited training courses, including Brushcutter, Woodchipper, outdoor emergency first aid, and manual Handling and lifting. the trainees also attended charcoal making, coppicing, hedgelaying and scything workshops to develop their skills and experience in traditional conservation practices. and there were opportunities to attend training courses to obtain vocational qualifications and to develop the soft ‘core’ skills necessary to progress into an active citizen role when the programme came to an end. these activities were carried out on 15

Before the programme ended, one of the trainees enrolled onto SruC’s HnC Wildlife and Conservation management course. another trainee now volunteers two days a week with a project partner and has enrolled onto an art course at college. one of the group is now in employment, while the two remaining trainees are searching for suitable roles and are meanwhile considering becoming Volunteer officers with tCV. overall, it was great working with these lads. their hard work made big improvements to the local environment and significantly enhanced their own prospects.

“I have always wanted to work outside in nature, and this programme provided that. I have learned how important biodiversity is for ecosystems and the things that we can do to improve biodiversity, such as removing invasive species that damage these ecosystems. I have learned important leadership and communication skills through working with TCV and associated volunteering and community groups. I really enjoyed working at Beecraigs Country Park doing things like path work and scything. This programme has led to me getting into college for Wildlife and Conservation Management at SRUC Oatridge. The traineeship has given me a real sense of purpose and I don’t know where I would be without it.” – ethan Shaw

“Working with TCV is a great way to learn lots of new skills, meet lots of people and help to make a positive impact on the environment. I really enjoy being part of a group because it involves working as a team and solving problems as a team. I have been involved in all sorts of activities and training courses such as dead hedging, hedge laying, pond clearing, tree planting, path creation, pond creation, making raised beds, willow spiling, tool sharpening, coppicing, hut building, wood chipping and scything. My favourite day with TCV was planting trees with the Arsenal FC under-16s team at Loch Lomond, because I was getting to teach people how to plant to trees while getting to talk to them. The programme experience has been phenomenal.” – Ben

Stoddart

“I thought the programme would be good to learn new skills and experience. I enjoy being part of a group a great deal. Activities included building raised beds for a mental health facility, and my favourite activity was hedgelaying at Loch Leven. I also learned about invasive species and how harmful they are to the environment. Training courses included Brushcutting, Woodchipping and Manual Handling. Enjoyable!” – leigh

Herd

*Joe has since changed roles and now helps run tCV activities in the edinburgh area, including our local volunteer group.