Green Pathways: Peterborough Region

Get out there and feel the dirt!

Green Pathways is a youth project focused on young people between 5 and 18 years of age. Concentrating on the Peterborough, Northampton and Fenland districts, this project supports those with disadvantages in their lives to improve green spaces for both wildlife and people. Young people will be able to experience the benefits of the outdoors, have the opportunity to learn practical skills and improve their general health and well-being. The project works towards six outcomes:

Increased confidence
Increased aspirations
Improved social skills
Increased enjoyment of nature
Improved knowledge of the environment
Improved transferable conservation skills

However, our sessions have proven to have benefits beyond these for both the individual and the wider community. These include increased attainment and employability, signposting to further support or opportunities as well as safer communities. We also have scientific research to back up our project which suggests that learning within and experiencing the outdoors has a huge positive effect on both physical and mental health. This in turn improves behaviour and social skills for people of all ages and abilities.

Please click the link for our Green Pathways flyer for some more information.

Please click below to open our booklet for young people living in and around Peterborough, containing information on green spaces, volunteering, how the outdoors can help, and more:

Continuing on Your Green Pathway booklet

That sounds great, what exactly is on offer?

Example of multi-session activities we provide:

Wildlife themed mural
Pond making
Willow den building/weaving
Growing vegetables
Creating wildlife gardens
Creating fences
Celebration events

Examples of single-session activities we provide:

Art projects
Create bug hotels
Snake or frog hunting
Bird watching/animal surveys
Tree climbing
Nature walks
Pond dipping
Bonfires

We really want to get to know young people so that we can see them thriving and benefiting from taking part in our programme. This means we are looking for a long-term commitment from you. We are offering this course over a 12 week period from the beginning of October to the end of February. Each group will have one session per week which lasts roughly two hours. During holidays we can offer longer sessions if needed. Each package involves an introductory session to discuss options, plus a mix of multi and single-session activities.

Now I am really interested, how do I know who is eligible?

To make Pudsey smile, we have to reach vulnerable and/or disadvantaged young people. Some of the criteria for the young people we can work with is listed below:

Living in a deprived area
Lacking in confidence
Mental or physical health issues
In trouble in or outside of school
Affected by drink or drugs
Difficulty making friends
Doesn’t attend mainstream education
In care
Young carer

This is not an exhaustive list! Please do get in contact to discuss your young persons eligibility.

These sessions are free! Sessions are ideally around 8+ group members. The main project offers sessions Monday to Friday during and after school time. We also run some Saturday sessions. We are currently setting up a group to start in October and run through to February 2019. These groups will operate two days per week, where the days and times will be set. This project will mainly work at Westraven Community Garden.

For the main body of the project, we use parks, community gardens and local nature reserves across the region. We have some well-established relationships in some lovely green spaces in and around Peterborough such as: The Green Backyard, Westraven Community Garden, Boardwalks Nature Reserve and many more.

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