BLOG: Growing an exciting future from a year of nature-based nurture
Jack, 25, talks us through his transformational experience as a New to Nature Trainee at Grow, which led to permanent employment at Groundwork.
Before the placement I was struggling to find meaningful work in the wake of my Biology studies. I settled on GCSE tutoring in schools. Whilst occasionally rewarding, I quickly felt unsettled by the mental health issues caused by exam pressure on students. Seeing young people estranged from nature and disconnected from their community, themselves, and hope, was a bleak reflection on the priorities of our education system. As I continued, I felt this in myself too.
I began to hunt for work in the green sector; I needed to be helping people and planet. After a green community hub was developed where I would lunch, I became aware of Groundwork. I had recently discovered I was neurodivergent. ADHD felt an inherent part of my character – or character flaw, being forever late or disorganised – so it felt odd to accept this as a common experience with support available. I wasn’t flawed, but society was unaccommodating. New to Nature therefore felt like a rare cushion into work where mistakes are understood and constructively addressed.
I interviewed for six roles, finally securing work with Grow in Sheffield as a nature-based Youth Employment and Wellbeing Coach. Grow was a far cry from school. On the first day, instead of routine corridor abuse, we had morning meditation. My nervous system felt immediately calmer. Over the following year, I was supported towards a varied skillset. From employment and mental health coaching, gardening, farming, outreach, networking, trainee management, monitoring, and fundraising, to many soft skills less tangibly expressed. The training budget even covered a trip to Portugal to immerse myself in a two-week permaculture design course. In sum, it was a privilege to accompany the young people I coached on a journey of self-development; to mentor and be mentored, to invest and be invested in. I emerge 100% better equipped for a future most authentic to me.
Highly organised working whilst experiencing ADHD has its difficulties, and I was a managerial thorn at times. Having little internal calendar and a limited memory inspired admirable patience in my colleagues, a grace which was extended to everyone at Grow, whatever their flavour of brain or situation. This is why diversity in the nature sector is important – by urging awareness, visibility, and conversations about how it feels to be you, we all profit, enriching environmental work away from an echo-chamber and towards the technicolour of minds and bodies which form the fabric of our society.
Since my New to Nature placement at Grow, I was fortunate to be afforded full time employment with Groundwork. I now develop Green Community Hubs in underserved communities in South Yorkshire and am Yorkshire’s Blue Mentor for ‘Blue influencers’; diverse groups of young people who use funding, training and their voice to deliver a project to protect ‘Blue’ spaces – coast, wetlands and waterways. My brain thrives in the variety, freedom, and connectedness of the work – to people and planet.
The everyday stability, confidence and contentment I now enjoy have stemmed from a year of nature-based nurture. My future feels exciting, and I endeavour to share this gift as widely as I can.
