Peri: Engagement Assistant At Cymdeithas Eryri / Snowdonia Society

Peri felt a lot of uncertainty surrounding career paths after school and the options for her future seemed limited. After finishing an art foundation course, Peri worked in outdoor centres as a trainee, but was looking for something more structured, that would help the environment, and accessible without a degree. New to Nature ticked all of these boxes.

As a painter, Peri has found inspiration in the vast mountains of Eryri National Park. But her art blends well across all aspects of her engagement role; Peri can apply her visual creative side to her office-based tasks and social media posts. Her conservation work has even given her new ideas for the future, where teaching a charcoal workshop outdoors has unlocked artistic possibilities of non-classroom learning and engagement.

The accessibility of the New to Nature programme has afforded Peri the time to try out something new and weigh up what she wants in a career. The answer is as varied as her traineeship: something where she can keep using her creative skills, get outdoors and be able to make a difference.

Beyond her placement, Peri hopes to remain doing impactful work with Cymdeithas Eryri / Snowdonia Society and gain a better understanding of the landscape and people of Eryri. By engaging the public to aid its protection, Peri aims to get the ball rolling on conservational change.

Peri said:

“I really enjoyed the Himalayan balsam bashing workdays. There’s a real sense of satisfaction when you can see the instant difference you and the other volunteers have done in a day’s work.

“It’s given me a good structure to the day and flexi working hours have been really beneficial to me. If I want to go to the gym or go to yoga class halfway through the day, that’s an option.

“If I’d have seen this role and it wasn’t a trainee placement, I would have gone, oh, I can’t go for that. But because it was so open and I didn’t need to have the experience already, it’s built a confidence in me that you can apply for stuff and they can only just say no, but if you don’t apply, you’ll never get the job.