During Spring 2024, we hosted a student from Lancaster University, who undertook a short work experience placement with us.

He has written a short piece on his experiences:

The work experience had great variety, consisting of a mixture of practical work, site visits and shadowing, allowing me to experience all sides of the National landscape. All of these were enjoyable and complimented each other well, so it was a great way to learn a lot in a short period of time. I was involved in activities such as landscape management, wildflower work, community projects, communications and many more.

There was also scope to explore the surrounding area, as we visited nature reserves such as Warton Crag and Trowbarrow and I particularly enjoyed the Wells of Silverdale route check, which all helped me get a better sense of the landscape. One of my favourite parts was attending a FiPL (Farming in Protected Landscape) panel meeting because there was such a wide array of people taking part and it was interesting to learn about the underlying decision making of how upcoming projects were analysed for funding.

Along with this, I also visited one of the farmers who was on the scheme, to see the progress of his wildflower meadow, which was super engaging as it really linked them both together. Overall, I have learnt that Arnside & Silverdale National landscape is rich in habitat diversity and in community culture. Moreover, I found that the team was inclusive from day one and were helpful and eager to answer any questions I had.