A great work experience team.

I’ve been working last week with four young men aged 15 from Keswick School who were on a work experience placement. They were with me for a full week of my working days. They were a really nice group of lads who got stuck into some hard work. You can see from the photographs just how much they achieved.

Before

After.

They repaired a ladder stile on the route from Watendlath to Kings Howe. Whilst we were up there we did a bit of deer spotting and saw about 20 red deer – that was a nice bonus. We did some maintenance work on the path along the western shore of Derwentwater to make sure that it remains accessible for wheelchair users. We also did some work on the footpath at Broomhill Point and then collected some brash to use at the Regatta for den building in the wild play area in the woodland behind the National Trust shop by the Lake.

They also attended two meetings with me. One was a full day with Natural England and the other was a Trust planning meeting for the Derwentwater Regatta which will take place this year on the weekend of July 11^th and 12^th. It’s always useful to see things from a new perspective so it was good to have them contributing to the discussions.

Ten years ago I had Dan doing similar work experience with me. He moved on from school to college to gain relevant qualifications and eventually he came back and joined us as one of our rangers. This kind of experience can inspire people to aim for a career in the Trust and it would be good to see any of them back in a few years. Read below for some of the things they said about their week.

Unfortunately Daisy missed out on enjoying meeting them.  She has been spending her days on Derwent Island on ‘light duties’. The staples are now removed from her paw but she needs a few more days before she’s free to tear around on rough terrain.

Here are some extracts of the things Nelson, Alex, Alan & Aaron had to say:

Aaron. I’ve really enjoyed work experience this week because it’s outdoors ... in future I would love to work outdoors and especially with people.

Andy. I really enjoyed this week because I like working with people and being outdoors. I also liked working with the National Trust and I think it might be something I want to do in the future.

Alex. I’ve enjoyed this work experience because I’ve done things I wouldn’t normally do. I would probably ... like to come back here to work when I’m older.

Nelson. I think it is good to respect and manage the beauty of nature. I’ve enjoyed work experience this week with the National Trust. I think it’s good that we were able to work outdoors.

Daisy here

I’ve been going to Derwent Island. It’s great. I get to play with lots of dogs over there.