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We're proud of our history and natural surroundings
but what would happen if we didn't take care of it
With the ongoing traffic chaos and pollution
still people continue to go about their daily lives with only a few of them
really grasping the importance in protecting our environment
I've been involved with a group called the Green Team
based in Scotland's capital
So we're the Green Team, we're a voluntary organization
We're also an environmental charity
I suppose our history is that we started in 1995 as a project of the Duke of Edinburgh Award
There didn't seem to be enough environmental opportunities for young people to get involved in
as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award and the Green Team was really born as a project for that
but since then, we have grown into our own organization and we have lots of
different sorts of projects going on throughout the year which is really
from February to November when we consider that the weather is nice enough for us to actually go outside
to do some practical work
Our projects are really lead by volunteers so there are staff members involved with the
Green Team but it's really the volunteers which actually lead the projects
and make it happen
So they give up their weekends to come out with young people
They work with groups of young adults to conserve and protect the natural environment
They can do this through part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award or through the John Muir Trust award
We get involved with getting outdoors in places and using public places and parks and help to conserve those places
I think the group is really great for helping young people to find a voice
and to grow in self confidence and build more skills
The team leader's main responsibility is to ensure the health and safety well being of the young people participating
I think it's vital and also just to encourage people to participate and get involved when they wouldn't normally
Before the programme would begin, we would liaise with the Green Team volunteer leaders
and coordinators to try and establish what they really require from us
So it works both ways, for example, we get a bit of additional help to manage our site
and they also get a bit of expertise or input into the natural environment
The John Muir Award is part of the John Muir Trust and they are the leading wildlife conservation charity in the UK
so they want to encourage people to protect and look after wild land so they have started
the award as a way of getting young people into caring about wild land and wild places
The award has got four different aspects to it. You have got to discover and explore somewhere
You've got to do something to conserve it and you have to share your experiences
So everyday that you come on a Green Team project, you can discover and explore a wild place
You get to do something good to put something back to the area and you can tell everyone about your experiences
The minimum timescale for the discovery award is four days and so if you come for four days on the Green Team then that counts
towards your first level discovery level.
We did Duke of Edinburgh and they came and did talk on the Green Team with us. It sounded quite fun and it was a good way of doing our service
We also run residential weekends so we leave on a Saturday morning, stay overnight and we come back on Sunday evening
I think it's really important if your learning about team work and working together and being more positive in developing certain attitudes
To actually have that trust that they build up is really beneficial I think
So we were out at the Pentland Hills going up quite high, clearing some drainage ditches on the paths
there so we took a group of young people out, walked them up a very steep path to the Pentlands
so that they could do some footpath repairs
With things like that, the rangers don't have time to do, they need quite a big workforce to actually go out
and help them with that
There are three different types of drainage you will be clearing out, we've got cross drains which you might have seen coming up
it's basically two sets of stones that run parallel with a gap between so for these ones you are just clearing out the stones and the red bits
in between it, you've also got water bars which are just a line of stones a bit like rubble and bricks
and they're in a line and you put them to one side
and then down the slope, just make a little channel and all of these channels have already got channels running but are beginning to get blocked up.
so your just really scraping away what is there already
I like it because you can see the difference that you've made and it's good that it's young people who can actually be bothered to go out
so to get involved with the Green Team, you have to between the ages of 14 and 25
We've got a programme of activities that you can find out about either through leaflets that are handed out through schools and youth groups
or you can go to www.greenteam.org.uk
and find out about all of the different projects that we have running
I really recommend them to come because it is absolutely great fun.
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