Groundwork’s Youth Advisory Board member Bethany has shared her voice on the importance of young people being given real opportunities to make changes and help create a greener and fair future for all:

“I didn’t grow up thinking of myself as a ‘youth voice’. At 16, I signed up to volunteer mostly to get out of the house. It was something to do, a way to meet people, and (if I’m honest) a chance to travel on someone else’s budget. I didn’t know it then, but that decision was the start of something much bigger. That one opportunity led to years of involvement in youth-led groups, campaigns, and creative projects. It taught me how to speak up, and more importantly, how to listen.

“Now, as a Youth Advisory Board Member with Groundwork UK, I get to bring all that experience with me and contribute to the conversations around the importance of nature. It’s still early days, but I can already seethe value of being in a space where youth voice isn’t an afterthought. It’s part of the structure.”