Community Engagement Trainee

Paid training placement

6-month fixed term contract;  full-time 37.5 hours per week

Location: Penrith, Cumbria

Salary: £23,809.50 per annum pro rata (living wage)

Are you starting out in your conservation career?
Are you outgoing and like working with people?
Do you have a flair for delivering engaging, creative learning experiences with young people and/or adults?

If so, our new paid placement role as a Community Engagement Trainee could be for you!

About the role

This is a six-month paid training placement starting in May 2025 and is designed to be a launch pad for someone at the beginning of their career in conservation and/or community engagement.

As our Community Engagement Trainee, you will have the opportunity to gain practical experience; supporting the delivery of community awareness work on invasive non-native species – a key issue affecting the health of watercourses and lakes in the Eden Valley and The Lake District, as well as Eden Rivers Trust’s practical volunteering programme and community events.

These two key work programmes form part of our Access to Eden: Breaking barriers, building bridges partnership project supported by a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

About you

You will be a confident communicator who can make scientific concepts accessible to a wide variety of audiences and inspire them to take action to protect our waterways.

At home working outdoors, you’ll be outgoing and comfortable approaching and working with people. The role requires regular travel to sites around the catchment so you will need to have a current, full UK driving licence.

About us

Eden Rivers Trust is the conservation charity standing up for Eden’s rivers; changing perceptions of rivers, enhancing and protecting the river environment so that people and nature in Cumbria can thrive.

Our vision is Clean and healthy rivers, providing a brighter future for all, and we have been working with partners and volunteers since 1996, developing and carrying out innovative environmental projects that restore rivers, improve habitats, manage floods naturally, and promote water-friendly farming. These conservation activities are integrated with creative programmes for schools and community groups that promote awareness, access, and learning.

As a Trust we are Rethinking Rivers. For Good.

More information

Download the Community Engagement Trainee job description >>

For an informal conversation about the role, please call Rhian Ebrey, Access to Eden Project Manager on 01768 866788.

How to apply

Read the Guidance notes for completing the Application Form.

Complete the Application Form and the Diversity Monitoring form

Send completed forms to [email protected] with Community Engagement Trainee application as the subject of your email.

Alternatively, you can send the forms via post to:

c/o Rhian Ebrey, Eden Rivers Trust, 4 Cowper Road, Gilwilly Industrial Estate, Penrith. Cumbria. CA11 9BN.

The deadline for applications is 9 am, Monday 24 March 2025

Interviews are planned for the week commencing 31 March 2025