Peterborough charity aims to make conservation more diverse

Trainees learn skills such as using tools and equipment, surveying and monitoring and running events

A charity has sought to attract more people into nature conservation through a trainee programme based in its reserves.

Froglife, in Peterborough, has been running its Transforming Lives project to encourage people from diverse groups to work in the sector.

It said the paid training could open up the industry to people who had not considered conservation as a career.

The charity hoped the programme could be "the first step on the ladder".

Froglife has five places on the scheme. It said trainees work three days a week on nature reserves at Hampton, Eye Green and Boardwalks near the River Nene.

Froglife works across nature reserves at Hampton, Eye Green and Boardwalks

Froglife said those who take part in the programme learn skills such as using tools and equipment, surveying and monitoring, running events, using social media and report writing.

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Darren Starkey, Froglife's operation manager, said: "The overall aim of the scheme is to provide the trainees with the first step on the ladder towards a career in nature conservation.

"We are keen to encourage applications from minority groups that are currently under represented, applicants from areas of high social deprivation or those with other challenges that might normally act as a barrier to a career in the sector."

The charity said previous trainees had found permanent jobs in nature conservation

The charity's reserve warden and trainer, Clare Middleton, said: "I've seen [trainees] blossom. They grow in confidence and work as a team in a way that they might never have done before. They make friends as well as colleagues."

The charity said previous trainees had found permanent jobs in nature conservation.

"It helps to increase diversity in the sector as it's a really good opportunity to get experience as well as getting paid, because often people can't afford to take unpaid work," Ms Middleton added.

Volunteers and trainees get to see a range of different habitats