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Environmental group backs green apprenticeships scheme
09/11/09
Edited by Andy Jowett.Plans to recruit 175 green apprentices to manage and maintain parks and gardens around the UK have been welcomed by environmental group Green Alliance - but it is calling for more to be done.
A spokesperson for the organisation said the announcement by communities secretary John Denham is a move down the "right track".
Under the plan, the government will put forward £700,000 to help local authorities create the training schemes for budding gardeners.
Green Alliance said the government should back the development of a wider range of apprenticeships to teach young people green skills such as improving energy efficiency and carrying out environmentally friendly home improvements on existing residential property.
"Young people [could] gain valuable skills in an area which is likely to expand in future - improve the housing stock, tackle fuel poverty in deprived areas and reduce carbon emissions. It helps meet multiple policy objectives," the spokesperson said.
This year's training programme is being supported by Alan Titchmarsh MBE (pictured), himself a former green apprentice.
