The Woodland Trust have set the Igniting Innovation Conservation Challenge to prompt ideas from young people on creating a healthier planet.

It can help kickstart a career and make an ambitious project a reality and even should you fall short, the final 18 to be shortlisted will be invited to a training session to build confidence in standing up for nature and making a good pitch.

Six individuals, from 16-25 can win project funding up to £6,000 and 12 months mentorship from experienced conservation experts.

Grace Howourth, head of youth reimagined at the Woodland Trust says: “We need more young people to become advocates for woods and trees and we are excited to be able to open this opportunity again to help fund important projects which will directly address the climate and nature crisis.

“You don’t have to be from an experienced environmental or conservation background or have academic qualifications to enter, as we are looking for people from all backgrounds and walks of life to enter with a great idea that can impact woods, wildlife and people.”

The six finalists will be given a chance to pitch their project in person to a small audience and panel of celebrity judges.

The prize money is allocated from a £20,000 pot, according to the needs of each project, but the judges have the final say on the financial backing offered for a project, which can be between £2,000 and £6,000.

Moiz Siddiqi, a previous winner of the competition, which helped him to launch his business Me-eco, says winning the competition has been ‘genuinely life-changing’.

Project Me-eco is a mindfulness-based seeded paper product, which enables people to write down their worries on seeded paper, plant it and watch it grow alongside their own wellbeing.

Siddiqi says: “It’s that first major step in taking a risk with an idea, and working to bring it to life, except with this risk, you’re supported and backed by the Woodland Trust, their youth team and amazing mentors.

“It allowed Project Me-Eco to develop from a basic concept to a fully-fledged start-up business with the foundation it needed. It helped us in understanding what we needed for our next steps, what worked and what didn’t, all in a supported space.”

It is not the only notable project supporting the youth going on within horticulture currently, as Kew’s Wakehurst Place recently hosted 10 young people as they headed out on a trip organised by the #WeTwo Foundation.