Applying for Bright Green Future

Written by BGF-ers Bel and Amelia

From 1st- 3rd March, Amelia and I were in Liverpool participating in a training weekend as part of the Bright Green Future (BGF) programme. The environmental leadership programme connects young people from all across the UK with a common interest in wanting to create a sustainable future.

Bel pictured second from left displaying her groups 'ideal highstreet'

The weekend, that was run by the School for Social Entrepreneurs, was jam-packed with various activities from a walking tour of the Baltic Triangle to watching a theatre production on the Saturday evening. It is really hard to summarise the weekend but Amelia and I left Liverpool so inspired by some truly remarkable people who spoke to us.

For me, the last talk left the greatest impact. Ashleigh Nugent, programme director of Rise UP CIC, told us about how he spent his teenage years believing society was against him and how he’s now used his experience to help others facing similar situations. Using words that we gave him, he created a freestyle rap about how we can help the most vulnerable in society that left us in awe of his energy on stage. We were well fed by the multiple café/restaurant based social enterprises which provided us with delicious food including award winning pies at Homebaked. You can read more about the Liverpool Training Weekend in Taryn's blog post, here.

I was glad to share the experience with not only Amelia but the other amazing young people I met from all across the country who were also part of the BGF programme. We would not have had this empowering opportunity if we had not have taken a risk in just applying for something we knew very little about.

Amelia reflecting on her Liverpool experience on the last morning.

Bright Green Future is a FREE year-long environmental training programme for 14-17 year olds which aims to give you the tools, knowledge and skills to make change and empower you to do the things that really matter. Through Bright Green Future you can learn about the most effective ways to fight climate change, gain confidence and meet loads of like-minded young people.

Applications for our new 2019 cohort are OPEN NOW Click here to apply.