Rural apprenticeships offer jobs 'close to home'

A year ago, Rosie Ashworth was working at a farm shop and considering her next career move. The 25-year-old, from a small village in the Yorkshire Dales, said she always wanted a job that offered "more working outside, trying to make a difference".

"Like a lot of rural areas, there's fewer opportunities. It tends to be if you want to go off and do education, it's usually in a city," she said.

Having grown up helping on her family smallholding, Rosie wanted a job that would see her learning practical skills, "working with farmers and landowners".

"When I was looking, I thought there's few opportunities to do [that] and it's not really something that's pushed at school either."

She applied for an apprenticeship scheme, offered by charity Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) which offers "practical skills across conservation, forestry, peatland restoration, land management and traditional landscape work".

YDMT chief executive Michael Devlin said the scheme aims to help young people "remain in the communities where they grew up".

"The employment market is really tough for school leavers at the moment, and we know how hard it is for young people to gain that vital work experience to take their first steps on the career ladder," he said.

"Entry level jobs are so competitive, and apprenticeships are essential to support young people into training and jobs.

"Hopefully, this will create more opportunities for young people across the county to find work close to home."

Rosie is now a first-year apprentice working with Ribble Rivers Trust as a river conservation apprentice in the land management team.

She said she felt part of the next generation ensuring the knowledge of practical crafts, such as dry stone walling and building fences, doesn't die out.

"It's needed in the area, so you've got to make sure you've got people learning about it and know how to do it," she added.

The YDMT is looking for its next cohort for eight paid apprenticeships with countryside employers, including a role as park ranger for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.

The scheme is open to young people aged 16 and over who live in and around the Yorkshire Dales and "can show an interest in the outdoors, conservation, wildlife or the environment", the charity said.

Other employers on the scheme are FACM, Tree Tops Forestry, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Yorkshire Peat Partnership and Marsdens AES.

In 2024, Amy Cockrill finished her YDMT-funded apprenticeship with Make it Wild, a rewilding business in Nidderdale.

The 22-year-old said after finishing school in 2022 she "spent the start of summer panicking", because she knew she didn't want to go to university.

"I've always struggled learning in classrooms because after so long I find it hard to concentrate," she said.

"Being outside and learning as you're working was really helpful and I actually picked up on things quickly."

After her apprenticeship ended, she stayed on at Make it Wild for another two years, before taking up her current position as a grounds maintenance operative.

Before starting the scheme, she would have "never known" how many other rural jobs she could use her newfound skills to diversify into, she added.

"I've done things that I never would have thought I'd be doing five years before.

"I've got a chainsaw licence, I could drive UTVs, I've had 4x4 training.

"It's bizarre. But it's a lot of fun, it's been a really big mix and no day is ever the same."

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