Angélica's Journey

My name is Angélica, I’m an Ambassador from Liverpool. I’ve been involved with Action for Conservation (AFC) since I was 12 years old.

I went on Camp in October of 2019, just over 5 years ago. I loved Camp. It was such an eye-opening experience for someone who had virtually no knowledge about conservation beforehand. It was the catalyst for my desire to learn more about how to help the planet, and it was so much fun because AFC inspire a love of the natural world in everything they do. My favourite memory from Camp is bird ringing. I loved learning about the process, the techniques required and why it's important. But the most amazing part was being able to see such incredible, wild animals up close! It was such a striking experience and is still a really vivid memory for me.

Angélica on Camp in 2019

My first year as an Ambassador was interrupted by lockdown. However, AFC rose to the occasion, creating the WildWEB programme with sessions held on Zoom. I honestly learnt a huge amount of what I know about conservation during WildWEB, and I got to be involved in projects that allowed young people, from all over the country, to connect and take action in their local areas, during a really difficult time. This sense of connection and teamwork was so important to me when I felt completely disconnected from the world. We had a common goal, and we worked towards it even with the distance between us.

After the lockdown ended, I wanted to experience hands-on action, so I joined one of AFC’s Youth Leadership Groups. Simultaneously, I also discovered I had developed severe social anxiety. I experienced both mental and physical symptoms, so I ended up being really limited in what I could do in every aspect of my life. When I did get involved, I felt like a burden, for not being able to do what everyone else was doing, and needing time to recover from the symptoms of my anxiety. AFC were nothing but supportive of me during this time. They took great care in making sure I was looked after and reminded me that, just because I had mental health issues, didn’t mean I couldn’t be involved in the AFC meet ups. I’m so grateful to AFC for giving me that safe space and allowing me to continue working on projects. I wanted to take action, even if my anxiety made that more difficult, and without their support, I probably wouldn’t have been able to. I firmly believe that they are part of the reason my anxiety improved, and I'm immensely thankful for that. The staff are all incredible, kind, friendly, dedicated people who are always there with knowledge or help when you need it and are genuinely so wonderful to learn from.

Angélica speaking at Chester Zoo (left), with North West Ambassadors (middle and right)

Recently, I joined AFC’s brand new Heartwood Youth Leadership Group at Heartwood Social Farm, near Matlock. This is the second Youth Leadership Group I’ve been part of, and I’m so excited to see it unfold. Land-based projects are my favourite form of action because I love working and planning with other like-minded young people. Watching the small actions we take at each visit build into bigger changes has an incredibly positive effect on me and the other young people. Even after such a short time, Heartwood feels really special to me. We’ve connected with the land, built relationships with the landowners, built a pond and planted trees, to name a few things, and already the effects of that are showing. Working with other people on projects like this is such an incredible experience because a sense of community is created, a collective understanding and care for what we are doing.

Heartwood Youth Leadership Group members and AFC's Alice (second from right)

How to take action was daunting to me before I knew more about conservation. There is so much information out there on what you should and shouldn’t be doing, and things like greenwashing just add extra confusion when you’re trying to make changes to better the planet. 

The fact that AFC put so much effort into creating a foundation of knowledge for young people and building on it over the years makes taking action so much easier in the long run. 

One thing I loved learning about was peat bog restoration, its importance and the techniques to restore them. I also loved having the opportunity to put this knowledge into practice on an actual peat bog with other young people. There are so many topics, like this one, that I never thought about before learning from AFC. They understand the learning process and have helped me feel more comfortable making decisions about what actions I want to take because of the education in conservation they’ve provided me.

I honestly wish every single young person could experience AFC. I'm so happy I'm part of a network of young people who can grow together and learn from each other. Being part of AFC has played such a significant role in developing my views and understanding of humanity's faults, flaws and actions and how these connect with the environment.  AFC has been a leading inspiration in my life, I’m inspired to learn, to take action and to create a positive change in the world.

If you’d like to support more Young Leaders, please donate to AFC’s Green Match Fund Campaign. Until 29th April 2025, every donation will be doubled!

Thanks for reading,

Angélica