A 21-year-old from Crook in County Durham has become the first National Landscape apprentice at the North Pennines National Landscape team.

Louise Bainbridge took up the position late in 2023 amid the transformation of the nation's Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) into National Landscapes.

She said: "I did floristry at college because I like plants and flowers, but I didn’t know that you could get a job like this working with nature and the outdoors.

“I was lucky enough to then do a conservation volunteering traineeship, but after I finished that I had to take a job in a supermarket. When I saw this apprenticeship advertised, I was really excited by the opportunity to move into this work sector and get the right experience to start a career.”

Her duties involve different practical conservation tasks, such as supporting the team with planting globeflower plug plants in Teesdale's field boundaries, aiding in footpath and access improvements, and participating in the maintenance of North Pennines peatland restoration sites.

She is enrolled on a two-year Countryside Ranger apprenticeship course at Bishop Burton College, covering topics including hedge planting and farm machinery financing.

Simon Wilson, programme manager for Business and Engagement with the North Pennines National Landscape team, said: “Louise has been a brilliant addition to our team and has been involved in such a lot of our work already.

He said: "As an organisation we are committed to apprenticeships and traineeships across all our areas of work. They are a great way to get experience and a foothold in the sector."