Background
Over the past 10 years, the Herefordshire Nature Trust and its partners, Ambios Ltd (not for profit) and Sheffield Wildlife Trust have developed a fast track nature conservation training programme that develops the skills, experience and vocational qualifications required by new staff entrants within the environmental field.
This model of delivery has become well honed over many years and works very well. It is based on the partners collective experience going back over a decade, working with employers and includes past projects such as Kingfisher, Skylark and EEL. Over 95% of trainees have moved into employment within the nature conservation sector after having achieved the certificated competencies that employers required.
What are the benefits of hosting a trainee.
Hosting a placement will enable your organisation to increase your capacity to deliver more conservation work for less cost. It will enable you to reach and influence more people and partners with whom you work and perhaps invest in future staff members. Work outputs might include targets against Local Bio-diversity actions plans, wildlife surveys and associated research, development of environmental resources, habitat management and practical delivery of conservation works (including supervision of volunteers) at nature reserves and other heritage sites. Many of these outputs would make lasting contributions to conservation and understanding of the U.K ‘s natural heritage.
In addition, your involvement helps to:
- nurture the next generation of wildlife professionals to go on and pass their knowledge down to future generations
- develop a learner centred approach to training within your organisation
- Allow you to tap into wider, more diverse training and support networks for your staff that are offered by the project and its partners
- Utilise a pool of qualified experienced vocational skills assessors.
What are LEMUR’s expectations of the host?
The host would be required to fulfil a number of responsibilities. The following list is a general guide to the generic responsibilities that you would need to fulfil.
- Create a training opportunity that enables the trainee to learn the fundamental skills required within nature conservation that will make them an asset to the industry in the future.
- Enable the trainee to acquire one or more of the following specific heritage skills: species identification, survey technigues, habitat management and/or heritage interpretation.
- Ensure the role affords opportunities for the trainee to attain units of an NVQ/OCN as specified by the training programme
- Nurture and mentor the trainee in the same structured and supportive way as any other staff member would receive.
- Allow the trainee time out from their placement to attend training.
How does LEMUR take care of you as an trainee host employer?
LEMUR brokers each placement to fit with the ethos, the practicalities, need and resources of both your organisation, the trainee, and LEMUR. Many hosts come to us with concerns over time management implications – the time cost of investing in an inexperienced trainee or investing in an trainee only to see them leave early for another job. LEMUR has overcome these concerns through the following mechanisms;
- a rigorous recruitment procedure, in which the host is at the centre of the selection decision making;
- by holding trainee team-building events;
- by providing upfront training and continued support throughout the placement;
- providing a payment scheme that encourages completion of placements.
Before the trainees start their placement with you, LEMUR will bring all hosts together for a local host induction to the LEMUR scheme to discuss your concerns and expectations. The placements have been designed to meet the needs of the host and the trainee’s role description. The effectiveness of this programme is the direct result of thirty years combined expertise of running training programmes between the 3 partners. We know what works and what doesn’t. We ensure that it will be a good experience from the outset.
Click here to see what our hosts have said!
The types of placementsare provided?
Click here to see list of placements
Do I get to choose the bursary trainee myself?
Yes! Together, we work alongside one another every step of the way! LEMUR coordinates the recruitment process on your behalf, including placing advertisements, fielding enquiries (where possible) and providing administrative support. Using our experience will help you get the right candidate. The LEMUR team attend all interviews and assist the host in choosing a high calibre candidate suitable for your organisation and the training programme.
What are the likely costs involved in hosting a LEMUR trainee?
The LEMUR placement is currently supported by a HLF bursary.
However, in order to make this programme sustainable in the future, the LEMUR Project is likely to expect you to pay a minimum bursary training allowance of around £120.00 per week to cover your trainee’s living costs over a 36 week period (currently under review). An additional flat rate contribution towards their travel to and from both their placement and LEMUR training days would be required too. The cost of the recruitment, training and support would be met by other funding brought in by LEMUR.
The only other cost is your time in supervising and mentoring the trainee. We have found that this is often higher at the beginning of the placement while they find their feet but tails off rapidly once they have had the LEMUR front loaded training.
What would be their likely terms and conditions?
Your trainee will have a placement week that suits your organisation’s hours of working and holiday entitlement. Their bursary training allowance payment are not subject to NI or PAYE as it is paid as a ‘training allowance’. This has been ‘cleared’ by HMRC during previous projects. Bursaries (trainees) are not ‘employed’ and their training allowance is essentially a contribution towards their subsistence. There is no contract of employment between host and trainee but rather ‘an agreement’ which sets out the expectations on all parties.
An allowance for child care is available on request.
Service Level Agreement and Contractual arrangements
Formal agreements are set up with all host placements and trainees. The agreements map out expectations and are agreed between all parties involved.
How long would the placement be for?
Current placements have extended over a 9 month period. Over the years, this has proven to be the best time compromise. If you feel this is too long or not long enough please see question 10 on our on-line questionnaire.
Click here for the employer questionnaire.
Would you be willing to host a trainee?
If you would be interested in hosting an trainee, then to help us to capture the demand for this kind of ‘on the job’ training from employers who have been struggling to recruit suitably skilled and experienced new entrants. This is were we need your help.
By completing this quick on-line questionnaire you help us (by making a case for more continuation funding) and we thus help you to etiher:
- recruit future entry level staff with the experience and skills to fill your vacancies and/or
- be in line to become a new LEMUR trainee placement host.
If you so wish (optional), by submitting this questionnaire you can automatically register with Project LEMUR so we can alert you to funding progress as well as the option to become a host organisation when funding is in place. The more evidence we have of demand the stronger our case, so please do email this link to 10 colleagues who might be interested in this skills shortage dilemna.
If you feel you would benefit from hosting a LEMUR trainee, please complete the on-line questionnaire. Click here.
If you would like to register your interest in participating in any future schemes, please click here.
What our current hosts say!
“We have hosted 3 excellent trainees. They were very enthusiastic, motivated and inspiring.
The scheme has provided an ideal opportunity to help trainees develop their skills and experiences in the sector, which has been beneficial to our organisation as well as supporting their long term career aims.”
Anna Jones, Sheffield Wildlife Trust & The Green Estates Co
“We work on a very low budget and so having an extra member of staff was extremely advantageous and enabled us to achieve more hands on activities.
It was good to have joint interviews between LEMUR and the host.
My initial concerns about how much time would be taken up on paper work proved not to be a problem.
Being in contact with other hosts through the project and networking was a real highlight.”
Claire Davies, Living Coasts
“Having a trainee added a valuable member to an existing small team and enabled us to do works that are important to us but wouldn’t normally have the time or resources to carry out. It is also something we feel we have a responsibility to support and provide for.
Knowing that we have provided someone with the opportunity to get a head-start in the conservation sector and helping them secure their first full-time paid position was a highlight!
The more specialist training and support provided by LEMUR was an essential element of the placement.
The LEMUR project has the benefit of being longer term with a good mix of practical ‘on the job’ experience and academic study and hence, with a good person, LEMUR can make a more valuable contribution to our work and greater rewards for the trainee.”
Andrew Nixon, Wye Valley AONB
“The recruitment process was simple and we had great support from our local Lemur manager throughout the process.
The programme is great because it focuses where so many university courses fail – on species ID – without it graduates are not much use to us.
There is a huge problem with environmental degrees today because there is so little focus on basic requirements like UK species ID and UK habitat management and conservation. While the jungles of Peru might be interesting they are not relevant to our work. Sometimes the interests of individual lecturers overtake the needs of the students and I think the LEMUR project succeeds in plugging the gaps left in these courses.”
Rob Havard - Malvern Hills Conservators
“The placements linked really well with the NVQ and other practical qualifications which helped the trainees when seeking employment.
The trainees were all excellent in their own ways. They were full of character and all excelled in their own different fields/ skills.
The project areas carried out were of immense benefit and gave added value to current practices.
Hosting a placement has allowed us to pass on knowledge to young people moving into the conservation sector and helps us to protect the heritage and conservation of our sites and species such as the Greater Horseshoe bat."
Nigel Smallbones - Torbay Coast & Countryside Trust
