Blue Influencers Scheme
The Blue Influencers Scheme is a project from The Ernest Cook Trust, an educational charity helping young people nurture a lifelong love and respect for the outdoors.
Their ambition is to support young people living in coastal, estuary and riverside locations, by empowering them to tackle environmental and climate issues.
The trust has done this by putting 22 Blue Mentors in organisations across the UK to engage young people aged 10-14 in schools, community centres, and organisations linked to climate action. The ambition is to engage more than 4,000 young people as Blue Influencers, as well as over 15,000 community members across England.
The #iwill Fund is made possible thanks to £66 million joint investment from The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to support young people to access high quality social action opportunities. The Ernest Cook Trust is acting as a match funder and awarding grants on behalf of the #iwill Fund.
Blue Influencers Scheme at Global Link
For the next three years, Global Link’s Blue Mentor Environmental Youth Worker will work collaboratively with young people across Lancaster and Morecambe. We will help address the specific concerns raised for those living in coastal, river and estuarine communities, such as flooding, rising sea levels, coastal erosion, plastic pollution and risk to local habitats.
What is the Blue Environment?
When we say Blue Environment, we mean anything to do with water. The sea, estuary (where a river meets the sea), rivers, streams, lakes and canals. Potential blue environmental issues can include, but are not limited to; flooding, animal habitat loss, plastic pollution, coastal erosion, increased wastewater dumped into the sea from your home, and nitrogen pollution (runoff) from aggressive local farming.
What is a Blue Influencer?
Once signed up to the scheme, a Blue Influencer is a young person that cares about the future of our planet, and in particular, the environment. They feel as though world governments aren’t doing enough to address our changing climate, and want to do something about it. They are driven to make meaningful change in their communities by building empathy, care and kindness. They know that we can’t sit and wait for it to happen, and need to do something about it NOW!
What would a Blue Project look like?
Depending on the group and location, each project will most likely look and feel very different. However, we can give a flavour of the types of things the young people might get up to in their first project with us.
Over an initial 13-week period (breaking for holidays and half-terms), the young people will work towards developing their first intervention. This could take the form of a campaign to raise awareness, the development of sustainable products (reuse, reduce, recycle), or an artistic provocation (photographic exhibition, film). They will also prepare and take part in a field trip to a local body of water, collecting samples and discussing some of the sustainability goals for the area. This will culminate in a showcase event, where they can share what they have learnt/made and further connect with local communities. The idea is to think BIG, but start small.
Once the initial project has been completed, the young people can then choose to work with our Blue Mentor for a further 3-6 months on a larger-scale intervention, and potentially with further funding from The Ernest Cook Trust.
How can young people get involved?
If you are a teacher or professional working with young people aged 10-14 in Lancaster or Morecambe, and interested in setting up a Blue Project, you can contact our Blue Mentor Environmental Youth Worker via the details below.
Email: a.briggs@globallink.org.uk
Mobile: +44 (0) 7717 655515
Please note that as Anthony is part-time, it may take a few days for him to respond to enquiries.
