This project addressed People, Climate, Nature and Place outcomes. FiPl support was awarded to deliver a residential introductory course in land management skills for young people aged 18–25, structured across three phases:

• Phase 1 – Outreach: targeted outreach to identify 16 young people who would particularly benefit from the opportunity, with a focus on reaching diverse audiences with limited prior access to land-based education
• Phase 2 – Delivery: a five-day residential programme at the Land Skills Hub at Fivepenny Farm, with daily sessions delivered by local landworkers and specialist facilitators on a range of topics
• Phase 3 – Follow-up: post-course support and signposting for participants to continue their learning and connect with relevant networks and opportunities

The course was delivered in March 2026, with the learning programme delivered by eleven specialist facilitators, selected to bring together expertise in a wide range of land-based skills. Many facilitators were selected from the local area with skills traditional to this landscape such as orchard management, sheep and goat keeping, cheesemaking, and building with local materials. Others travelled in to represent a diversity of perspectives and to create connections to the wider national and international ecosystem of land work and food sovereignty.

• 15 young people from diverse backgrounds engaged with sustainable land-based skills across a six-night residential programme
• 11 specialist sessions delivered across 5 full days of programming
• 100% of participants completed all scheduled sessions
• Participants who had never previously visited the countryside or considered land-based careers described transformative shifts in confidence, aspiration and connection to the land
• Facilitators drawn from local, regional and national networks, linking participants directly into active ecosystems of land work, food sovereignty and agroecological practice
• Strong evidence of lasting impact, with overwhelmingly positive feedback and multiple participants already taking concrete follow-up actions and finding employment in the sector

The course has demonstrated that there is a significant unmet need for accessible, high-quality introductions to sustainable land skills for diverse audiences, and that the Land Skills Hub is well placed to meet it.

The most notable and valuable theme running through the feedback is the transformative effect of the course on participants’ sense of access to and belonging in the landscape. Several participants described a fundamental shift in how they understood their relationship to land, rural space, and land-based careers.

Key future improvements planned are:

• Deposit system to reduce last-minute withdrawals, with an opt-out available to ensure no financial barrier to participation
• Daily feedback forms to improve real-time evaluation and allow participants to flag interest in specific topics while sessions are fresh
• Reference sheets and take-home materials for information-dense sessions
• Review of session scheduling and sequencing to optimise energy levels
• A shared online resource space for participants to stay connected and access ongoing resources and opportunities
• Six-night accommodation model built into future budgets from the outset
• Discrete budget line for the follow-up and wrap-up phase
• Continued improvement of feedback form design to better capture baseline and change data

Please contact the FiPL team on fipl@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk if you are thinking of running a similar programme and would like more detailed information.

• R – “I got a job recently at a Community Supported Agriculture farm, and today I just changed roles to fresh produce co-ordinator” 
• J – “I am currently doing my growing traineeship, which is truly wonderful and super aligned… and I work as a freelance gardener” 
• M – “I’ve just finished volunteering at a market garden in Devon”
• A – “I’m spending the summer gaining experience via WWOOFing” (Worldwide Experience on Organic Farms).

(Quotes from participants)