Students at West of England schools will be the first to get a helping hand to discover the environmentally friendly jobs of the future, thanks to a scheme launched today by West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris.

Mr Norris has set up a new fund that West of England schools can apply to from today (Wednesday 2 February). There will be an initial three cash injections of up to £15,000 for local schools to set up green careers programmes that inspire young people to pursue jobs which help reduce carbon emissions and protect the environment.

Metro Mayor Dan Norris said:

“I know how passionate young people are about tackling the climate emergency. The good news is that there are lots of great green jobs that will be available when they enter the workplace. These are high-skilled, long-term green careers. If we are going to meet our ambitious net-zero targets we are going to need electric car mechanics, sustainability engineers, carbon accountants and an army of retrofitters. I am determined that local young people find out about all the opportunities open to them and gain the skills they need to succeed.”

If successful, lessons learned from the first three schemes will be used to roll-out the programme to more schools across the West of England.

Headteachers can apply at: Green Futures Fund