We have launched an ambitious new fundraising programme for young people passionate about the planet.
WFN NextGen is a new way we will support the next generation of fundraisers, channelling the energy and enthusiasm of young people into tangible change for nature conservation.
Steered by an international, cross-sector, youth committee (meet them here!), WFN NextGen will support young fundraisers to achieve their goals including through sporting challenges, arts events and comedy nights, with a target to raise £10,000 a year for conservation.
Youth activism continues to move the needle on climate change; WFN NextGen will help young people apply the same spirit to the inextricably linked issues of biodiversity loss and landscape degradation. One million species are threatened by extinction and our exploitation of nature is already causing global pandemics, yet only 4% of UK philanthropic giving is directed to the environment; the wildlife conservation funding gap urgently needs to be closed. Rather than limiting contributions to their personal capacity to give, WFN NextGen will inspire young people to champion collective fundraising efforts.
This December we brought together 60 people between the ages of 18-40 at a launch party, hosted and catered by WFN NextGen’s official events partner, Urban Greens, with drinks from Endangered Brewing. The attendees spanned influencers, conservation practitioners and corporate professionals with a passion for securing a future for grassroots conservation in the Global South, who spent the evening working together on creative fundraising concepts. We were so grateful to everyone for providing a negative lateral flow test result on arrival.
WFN NextGen Chair and WFN Operations Manager, Lydia Johnson, said: “WFN NextGen will offer everyone the opportunity to raise vital funds for grassroots conservation on the frontline of the climate and biodiversity crises. It was brilliant to be able to come together and launch this new programme at a time when protecting our planet has never been more important, and our influence as the ‘next generation’ has never been more impactful.”
Naturalist, author and WFN NextGen Committee member, Nick Gates, said: “It was fantastic and inspiring to be surrounded by other young people ready to be changemakers for conservation. Young people today are incredibly aware of the many pressing issues facing the natural world. Eco-anxiety is at an all time high, yet this often manifests as a thirst amongst this generation to be part of the solution. The goal of WFN NextGen is to help these people support some of the most critical grassroots conservation projects, so that they can see their support become tangible, frontline change.”
If you would like to get involved or have family, friends or colleagues who might be interested:
