Maddie grew up in North Lincolnshire, she describes how she spent her childhood with her parents and grandparents. Living in a rural
part of England meant she always had a strong relationship with the local environment. “I was quite outdoorsy anyway…I always wanted to do something with animals when I was quite little.” Her passion for the natural world led her to pursue a degree in Zoology. Maddie found adapting to university extremely difficult so after a few months she withdrew and moved back home and enrolled in a local university. It was at this stage that she started her journey with volunteering in conservation and nature. As part of a university module she began volunteering with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust on different projects. Her cohort at university was impacted by Covid19, meaning that part of the degree was completed during the national lockdown. This meant that she missed out on many of the experiences and opportunities that a young person would normally have.
Maddie took part in the Tomorrows Natural Leaders’ project on a break from her university studies, this gave her a chance to connect with people who had a similar interest to her. She describes the project as giving her a space to experience working in the environmental sector. “I think it was a good taste of working, but with no pressure, really, as well, and knowing what it’d be like to work in an environment that maybe you would want to work in in the future”. It also gave her transferable skills such as how to engage with people and take responsibility. Whilst she found the responsibility of the project challenging at times, it gave her an overall sense of achievement. “You could see projects progressing, so it was quite good in that sort of way, to feel like you’ve achieved something”. Maddie noticed that taking part in the project helped her mental health and wellbeing. Spending time in nature, having a larger goal to work towards and the support from the staff and other members of her team were all contributing factors to the improvement in her mental health. “It helped me get to that better mental health state, and the support I got there”. Maddie described the experience as “ a once in a lifetime opportunity just to enjoy learning new skills in a non-pressured environment, and do it with people you genuinely got along with, and you could direct it yourself, meet new people.”
The time with Tomorrows Natural Leaders solidified Maddie’s interest in the environment and conservation. When asked about what change she would like to see in the world she shared that there should be an increase in “awareness and respect for the environment… It’s really sad that some people have no respect for it at all, and you know – you hope in most cases it’s because they have no awareness of what is actually going on and how important it is.” She discussed how important projects like this are for generating environmental awareness. “I think some people don’t have the opportunity to learn about it, I’d want people to have that opportunity, and so that they can go on to learn more. Yes, I think having stronger leaders and more opportunities in areas like that would be really positive for the environment”. Maddie wants to continue in creating greater awareness for environmental issues. In the interview she highlighted the importance of just one conversation. If each person you spoke to were to become a little more aware, then that would contribute to fixing the problem.
After her time with the project Maddie went on to finish her degree, even though it was at times, a challenging experience Maddie graduated with a First. Since then, she has started a job as an ecological consultant. She described how the project gave her the language, skills and confidence to work in the environmental sector.