I first got involved with the UK Youth Climate Coalition three and a half years ago, when Emma Biermann and Casper ter Kuile were setting it up. During those three and a half years I took twelve months out to focus on my job at the time and some personal family issues, and returned to the organisation in March 2011.

Since helping to set it up, I’ve been involved in our Power Shift projects, our communications and press work, our youth delegation to the UN climate talks and generally lending a hand wherever I can.

UK Youth Climate Coalition has proven to be a real turning point in my life as it represents exactly the organisation I’ve long believed we need – to empower and mobilise young people around climate change.

Moving into the future, I believe that our outreach, communications and coalition work are the most exciting areas with the most potential for making a positive change. By undertaking outreach work at the local level (meeting and talking with other youth or environmental groups), by having a long sought after, meaningful relationship with our coalition partners (based on informal meetings and bringing partners together), and maintaining our record of engaging, positive communications, I believe we can realise a lot of the unfulfilled potential we have and build on our existing success.

On reflection, the need for UKYCC to fill this potential is far greater now than it ever was when the organisation was founded. Today, youth unemployment and debt makes the idea of a fair deal for younger generations more pertinent, but also harder to see happening. And as the recession and the global financial crisis dominate the headlines, the attack on green legislation and the dwindling media attention paid to climate change threaten the progress of the years since 2000.

Right now, we need young people working at the local level to connect with each other face to face, around shared values, and to call for the change and commitment needed to tackle these problems. The work I’m doing on Common Cause on behalf of UKYCC and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, feeds into my beliefs on this.

I want to do my best to help this process by becoming the Development Co-Director, and supporting those people who volunteer their time and effort for UKYCC to do the best they can. I see my role as Co-Director very much as facilitating the amazing work other people can do. If you have any questions about my application or my previous experience or involvement, please feel free to contact me.