Day 8 - 4/5/6.10.2019 - Peak District Residential (discover/explore)

From the 4th to 6th October 2019, I went on a LLATTNP Junior Rangers Residential to the Peak District with other Junior Rangers from 6 different national parks across the country - the Cairngorms, LLATT, Peak District, Pembrokeshire, North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales. It was the first meeting of UK National Park Junior Rangers and over the weekend, we took part in a variety of practical activities and discussions about the future of NP Junior Rangers. After a 7-hour train journey, we started off the weekend by participating in an activity ran by the young volunteers from Pembrokeshire, making paper with wildflower seeds (image 1). We then had a choice of what 3 main activities we'd like to take part in during the weekend. I chose to do the walk up the highest hill in the Peak District National Park (Kinder Scout, image 2), do tree climbing with a tree surgeon and do a practical conservation task fixing tree guards on a newly planted native woodland near where we were staying. On the Saturday night, we gave a presentation on what we do in our park (image 3) and listened to what the other groups did for inspiration. We then had a group meeting with everyone there, discussing projects we could all undertake to improve Junior Rangers across the country (image 4). The results of this included exchanges between National Parks, a conservation competition, how to recruit new members and get more National Parks to set up Junior Rangers. It was an amazing weekend with memories that'll last a lifetime and it was an honour to be a part of. It was such a special experience to be able to meet so many amazing people from all over the country and know that wherever we came from, we all had our passion for nature in common.