Youth Forum Sloughbottom Meadows (credit: Ali Smith)
Youth Advisory Board
Youth Advisory Board film (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ED5quS0BDw&t=3s)
What is our Youth Advisory Board? Footage by Joseph Harrington.
Apply to become a member of the Youth Advisory Board
What is the Youth Advisory Board?
The Youth Advisory Board (YAB) is a voluntary opportunity for 18-25-year-olds to (1) lead and gain experience, (2) work with brilliant environmentalists in the conservation sector, and (3) make a real difference to Norfolk’s wildlife.
Becoming a member of the Board will allow you to learn skills around leadership and conservation, have a say on a range of topics concerning our wild spaces, campaigns and Norfolk’s communities – and develop into a future leader that champions our wildlife and nature connection. It’ll be ambitious, challenging, inspiring, and joyous. A chance to connect with people who feel just as strongly that we all must act for nature. If you’re wondering how you can make a difference, this is how!
As a member of the Youth Advisory Board, you will:
- Work with our Trustees, Senior Leadership Team and staff
- Inform key decisions affecting Norfolk’s wildlife
- Help protect and restore Norfolk’s wildlife and wild spaces
- Represent young people living in Norfolk
- Build skills, knowledge and experience supporting your progression
Who is it for?
We’re looking for 18-25-year-olds who are motivated to create a positive change within the Trust and keen to take part in discussions, events, meetings, workshops and training to make this happen. We’d like you to be reliable, enthusiastic and interested in learning more about nature, conservation and wildlife in Norfolk. We don’t ask for any particular knowledge or experience. We’re recruiting based on your potential, attitude, willingness to learn, ideas, ability to work with other people and your passion for making the world a better place.
You need to be based in Norfolk and be able to travel to Norwich and our office (Bewick House, Thorpe Road, which is located right by the train station). All expenses are paid for, including food and travel.
To become a member, you don’t need to:
- Be familiar with our reserves or have specialist wildlife knowledge
- Have joined an NWT event before
- Excel in academic environments
- Have led a project before
- Feel confident in a room of Trustees
But you will need to:
- Be enthusiastic and interested
- Have the time available to take part
- Want to make a difference and help people, planet and wildlife
- Be open to learn and grow
- Embrace new experiences
- Step out of your comfort zone
- Work well with other people
What you’ll be expected to do
Principally, you will meet once a month as a collective and contribute to three main project areas:
- Nature City Norwich
- Campaigns
- Youth Action for ages 11-30
As a collective, you’ll spend two years getting to know these areas of work, working alongside the staff involved and building towards your own contributions. This might involve working with communities in Norwich to build wild spaces in their area, designing and leading a campaign to influence behavior or policy, and meeting with our Youth Action network to collect their perspectives.
In addition, you’ll have the opportunity to attend Council of Trustee meetings which take place quarterly. This is a chance to keep informed of our wider work and decision making, and an opportunity to represent and share the views of the YAB.
Time commitment
This is a two-year opportunity, and you’ll need to be available for the duration of the programme. You will need to be available for the following sessions:
Youth Advisory Board Meetings
Monthly Wednesday meetings, 5-8pm during term time (half-day) and 10am-3pm during school holidays (full-day) (these can take place in Norwich, online or in locations around the county, dependent on the preferences of our group).
Dates:
2026 -
- 30 Sept (5-8pm)
- 28 Oct (10am-3pm)
- 25 Nov (5-8pm)
2027-
- 27 Jan (5-8pm)
- 24 Feb (5-8pm)
- 31 Mar (10am-3pm)
- 28 Apr (5-8pm)
- 26 May (5-8pm)
- 30 Jun (5-8pm)
Council of Trustees meetings
There are 4x Council of Trustee meetings a year (full-day, various locations), and members of the YAB will take it in turns to attend at least one during your time on the YAB.
Team building activities
At the beginning of this programme, we invite you to attend a few extra sessions to help you get to know one another. These will place over summer and autumn 2026, including our Sloughbottom Meadows Open Day.
• Sloughbottom Meadows Open Day: Saturday 15 August, 1-7pm
• Hickling: Saturday 26 September, 2-5pm
• Wild spaces in Norwich: Friday 30 October, 10-3
Optional opportunities
There will be opportunities throughout the year to take part in our wider programme, including volunteering, public events, and talks and activities as part of our Youth Action programme. Should you be available and interested, there’ll be many ways to get involved with Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s work.
Other time commitments
As well as the face-to-face meetings, we recommend you make time in the month for your own reflections, reading, catching up with messages, planning, filling expense forms, and doing a bit of preparation in advance of the sessions. This should amount to a few extra hours a month of self-led independent work.
How you can apply
To apply, read the information about the opportunity above and in our FAQs and complete the questions in the online application form here. Deadline: Monday 6 July, 9am.
if you have any questions, please get in touch with youthaction@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk
FAQs
What will we expect from our Youth Advisory Board members?
- Let us know in advance if you can or can’t attend a monthly session
- We expect you to attend at least 75% of the monthly sessions
- Kind, supportive and considerate to other members
How will we support you?
- A dedicated YAB coordinator and contact available during work hours
- All travel expenses will be covered and food and drink will provided at sessions.
- Clear and consistent communication around sessions and activities
- Team building activities with fellow members
- Inductions, trainings and introductions to staff and our work
- A steady and considered stream of work suited to your interests and abilities
- Additional opportunities that suit your interests
- A bespoke mentorship scheme
Why are we setting up a Youth Advisory Board?
There are many reasons we might establish a Youth Advisory Board. For the Trust, it makes our decision-making more inclusive and representative of the people who live in Norfolk. It holds us to account and widens our scope of thinking. As the future custodians of Norfolk's wildlife, it's vital that we collaborate with young people and shape the future of wildlife together.
And of course we hope the Youth Advisory Board will be enriching to you; inspiring new skills, knowledge, experiences in leadership and supporting wellbeing through community and nature connection. These benefits can echo for a long time, inspiring life-long nature-advocacy and helping us all build a more resilient future for wildlife.
Who are Norfolk Wildlife Trust?
Established in 1926, Norfolk Wildlife Trust is the county’s leading conservation charity, proud to have been protecting and restoring Norfolk’s nature for over a century. We care for more than 60 nature reserves rich in reedbeds, heath and woodland that nurture Norfolk’s rarest species; we are working with others across Norfolk to create a landscape that is teeming with life; and we are cultivating a county that is home to healthy communities who have access to nature and are inspired and enabled to help wildlife thrive.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust is part of the national movement of Wildlife Trusts. We are supported by over 41,000 members and work alongside a wide variety of partners, funders and communities who all share our ambitions to create a wilder Norfolk for all.
What is our commitment to EDI?
We want our people to be as diverse as nature itself and so we particularly encourage applications from those currently under-represented within our sector, including people from minority ethnic backgrounds and people with disabilities. We welcome people of all backgrounds and levels of experience with nature and continually strive to improve our culture and practices. We are committed to creating a movement that recognises and truly values individual differences and identities. Please let us know if you require any adjustment processes to make our recruitment process more accessible.
What do other young people say about working with NWT?
Here’s what members of our Youth Forum say about volunteering with us
'I came in not really knowing a lot about the Wildlife Trust. I’m not very good with big words or anything like that. I don’t have a lot of knowledge about the Trust or the environment and things like that, but I would definitely like to learn a lot more, and I think I am learning a lot.'
Youth Forum member
'For a long time, talking about wildlife and conservation was a theoretical thing. It was all bark, no bite. The Youth Forum feels like an actual way to make a difference. I just love coming in and having a natter. It’s very nice being around like-minded young people.'
Youth Forum member
'It does make you feel more involved and that you are actually being listened to and appreciated. I think that is what Alex values, just allowing young people to have more of a seat at the table, which is quite a novel concept. '
Youth Forum member
'Here we feel we’re making a difference. Everyone’s really nice and supportive. The staff are really lovely.'
Youth Forum member
'On the discovery day we all came up with lots of ideas. There was a discussion panel about urban greening and nature-friendly cities. I also enjoy the like-minded peer side of things. I really like the variety of stuff we get up to. I really liked meeting some of the employees and learning more about them. I went to the staff day. I’d never really been to something like that before.'
Youth Forum member
What other opportunities do you have for young people?
We are passionate about making it easy for young people aged 11-30 years to get involved in conservation: whether through events, volunteering, becoming one of our Wilder Wardens or joining our Youth Forum.
Our Youth Forum are tasked with the practical and seasonal tasks of managing a meadow and woodland in Norwich – a project called ‘Making the Meadows’.
Find out more about our events and opportunities for 11-30 year olds here.