YOUNG people are being handed an exciting opportunity to combine a future career with a life in the great outdoors.

Applications are now open for the free Trainee Ranger Scheme with the Belfast Hills Partnership.

Now in its seventh year, the programme for 18- to 25-year-olds provides environmental training as well as offering benefits to health and wellbeing for young people who want to get out into nature and form new friendships. The course also allows young people to pick up practical skills which they can use in the workplace.

Training is provided as part of the scheme, so all abilities and backgrounds are welcome. 

Some of the tasks trainee rangers participate in include tree planting, habitat management and wildlife surveys.  

Participants will also receive a Wild Youth Award and gain a Lantra accreditation in the use of strimmers and brushcutters.

Belfast Hills Partnership Manager Lizzy Pinkerton said: "Our goal with the Trainee Ranger Scheme is to help tackle issues young people are facing in a positive way. It is long established that getting close to nature and the outdoors improves health and wellbeing.

"This is one of the overarching aims of the scheme – to get young people outdoors, connecting with the natural environment and each other. Previous groups have made lifelong friends as a result of the scheme."

Silvia Galli, Youth Development Officer at the Belfast Hills Partnership, said: "I feel really excited to start another year of the Trainee Rangers Scheme. I am looking forward to meeting a new group of young people who are passionate about pursuing a career in the green sector and I'm delighted to be here to support them in this journey. It is very rewarding to see past participants secure employment and pursue further education in a range of environmental roles as a result of joining the scheme."

Silvia added that past participants have gone on to secure employment with groups such as the Belfast Hills Partnership, RSPB, Ulster Wildlife and the Field Studies Council.

The deadline for applications is Tuesday, September 10. The scheme itself starts on Tuesday, October 1 and takes place every Tuesday for fifteen weeks (with a break at Halloween and Christmas) from 10am to 3pm.

For more information and to apply, visit https://belfasthills.org/traineerangerscheme/ or  email silvia.galli@belfasthills.org