Sam grew up right next to Blackpool tower, attending both junior and high school in Blackpool.
He recalls hoping to do “something with wildlife” during his younger years, and has fond memories of meeting an ecologist named Pauline who worked at Groundwork UK and would go on to have a big influence on Sam’s early life: “I just looked that job up and I’m like, ‘Yes, it sounds like me.’” This is when Sam first began volunteering on wildlife and nature related projects which quickly developed into a passion: “I was just like, ‘Yeah, I love this. I’m doing more of this’”.
Sam remembers generally having a good time at school despite struggling at times with his dyslexia, noting that “it was difficult to get the support I needed as well when [he] was younger”. When Sam was fourteen, he started becoming involved with Groundwork UK’s ‘Green Leaders’ project.
“I was quite a shy kid when I was young. I didn’t speak a lot, so it definitely brought me out of my shell learning to debate.”
The project allowed Sam a safe and accessible space to develop his leadership skills in an alternative learning environment that would ultimately see him gain a qualification equivalent to a GCSE. Whilst with Green Leaders Sam took part in group activities with other young people to build his skills in research. He also learnt how to debate and talk to people to better communicate his ideas. Sam completed both level 1 and level 2 of Green Leaders, leading an event to encourage children to plant marigolds and take them home to support the environment for bees in the local area. He was able to teach young attendees and their guardians about different bees and fifteen flowers they like and the dangers of neonicotinoids. This experience gave Sam the experience and crucially the confidence to be able to run more engagement and education events in the future.
“Now I could probably plan an event at uni if I wanted to quite easily, because I’ve got that experience.”
Sam’s positive experience with Green Leaders led to him then going on to participate in another environmental youth project, Future Proof Parks, him volunteering on the North Blackpool Pond Trail and Sam recalls volunteering under the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, which the government sponsored to maintain parks.
Sam gained a place at Nottingham Trent University and is currently studying for his degree in Ecology and Conservation where he is part of the Conservation Society. Sam feels his experience with Our Bright Future and his volunteering has allowed him to build skills that “set [him] apart” at University and in the job market: “it’s shaped my learning and shaped what I can do, and it’s really helped me out”.
Sam recognises the positive impact of his time on the project on not only his skills and confidence, but also on his general weelbeing, noting “it’s improved my leadership skills massively. And with that, it’s improved my wellbeing because I can communicate better. So that means I have better friendships, really. Closer friendships. I can get along with people quite well because of it, which all goes on to the wellbeing.”
“It showed me the importance of community in a sort of really good sense.”
His experiences also allowed Sam to develop insight into professional life and challenges, and understand more the workings of a charity and the environmnetal sector itself, developing and understanding of the importance of raising awarenes, engaging and educating different communities around issues of conservation. Sam is passionate about protecting green spaces both for the benefit of wildlife and the human race and planet. He understands this is a huge task and is inspired by the power communities can have when given the tools and support to advocate for their local environments: “Green spaces usually get – are the first places where they get cuts. They also tend to get developed on, because that’s where the most money is. Which means that green spaces just erode… Funding’s a great thing, but you need people as well. You need people in the community to go, “Oh, I’ll go and …” Even if it’s an hour a month, having twenty or thirty people who are passionate about it and want to do well and come out semi-regularly is better than no one doing it.”