With £222,000 awarded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Learning through Nature programme has enabled Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to expand its existing early years, young people, and school-based programmes, train dozens of educators and volunteers, and create valuable pathways into green careers. 

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust used the funding to scale up its existing community programmes, including Nature Tots for 3-5 year olds and Junior Rangers for 11-18 year olds, and provided subsidised accredited training to schools in five areas of Derbyshire. 

The Trust also expanded its Wilder Schools Programme to encourage more outdoor learning and delivered five traineeships to develop careers in community engagement and practical conservation following the success of its Working for Nature programme. 

Highlights of the programme, made possible thanks to National Lottery players, include: 

• 24 early years professionals trained to run nature connection sessions for children aged 0-5, in partnership with local communities, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) charities and nursery staff. 

• 35 Junior Rangers aged 11-18 engaged in sessions to gain skills in campaigning and practical conservation, with a further 42 enlisted for new groups. 

• 36 school staff trained in Outdoor Learning and Forest School leadership, now leading nature-based learning across Derbyshire schools and improving school grounds. 

• 5 trainees supported with qualifications, mentoring, and work experience, alongside 90 others participating in career-focused workshops. 

• Hundreds of new wildlife habitats—from ponds to bird homes—created by communities, schools, and youth groups involved. 

Now, the Trust is hoping to continue the legacy of the project as a leading provider of accredited training courses for outdoor learning and forest school, and through its new online Wilder Schools Network to inspire and equip future generations. 

The website provides course information, teaching resources and support for educators to enable them to embed nature into all areas of the curriculum, and support everyone from babies to adults to be more connected to nature and become the conservationists of the future.  

Linda Shepherd, Deputy Headteacher at Tupton Primary and Nursery Academy, completed Outdoor Learning and Forest School training through the programme. She explains the impact it’s had: 

“We want our children to love being outside. We want them to learn in and through nature and to reap the rewards of being out in the open air. We want them to feel inspired to take action, to care for the environment and to understand the responsibility they have for securing a sustainable future.  

“The training gave me the time and access to experts that I needed to shape our vision and develop a long-term plan of action that I could then start to make happen in school. It provided support to start our journey in re-wilding our school grounds, helped us to identify our approach to the introduction of a Forest School, and allowed us to set aspirational objectives for how outdoor learning which will enhance the curriculum in the future.”  

Reflecting on the programme, Lisa Witham, Director of Wilder Communities at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, said: 

“There is an increasing disconnect between children and the outdoor environment, and we are acutely aware of the green skills gap. We need people from all ages and communities to engage in solving the wildlife and nature crises, and in turn become healthier and happier from connecting with nature.  

“Each element of this programme, made possible thanks to National Lottery players via The National Lottery Heritage Fund, has been about equipping people with Green Skills to either take up a career in conservation or to enable people to connect others with nature. Through training other leaders and facilitators, we have engaged even more people than we could alone and created a sustainable programme that can be led by the communities for years to come.” 

Visit the Wilder Schools Network here. 

Find out more about Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s accredited courses here.