The first trainee of the Tamara Landscape Partnership Scheme’s quarter of a million pounds training project has started as an Assistant Ranger Apprentice.

23-year-old Myles Pinkney is the first of 20 apprentice, foundation and internship trainees who will work in the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which is an historically important and protected landscape bordering Devon and Cornwall.

The £268k ‘Tamara Trainees’ project is part of the Tamara Landscape Partnership Scheme, which is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and other partners to create a brighter future for the Tamar Valley and its communities. The total to be invested across the Tamar Valley until 2025 will be £3.2 million.

Chris Harris, Tamara Trainees Project Officer explains:

“The Tamar Valley is a remarkable place. This project will train local people so they have the right skills needed to work in this historic and protected landscape whilst also supporting the small unique businesses that operate here.”

The first Tamara Trainees role is a National Trust Assistant Ranger Apprenticeship, which has been jointly funded in partnership with the National Trust and will last 18 months. It is hoped that over five apprenticeships will be made available as Tamara Trainees over the next three years, three of which will be with the National Trust.

Stuart McLeod, Director, London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund says:

“We are delighted to be supporting the Tamara Landscape Partnership to not only give people the opportunity to learn about heritage, but to become truly involved in it through the Tamara Trainees element of their project. We know that giving people a chance to have a closer understanding and relationship to their heritage reaps many benefits and is something we are proud to fund.”

Myles Pinkney, National Trust Assistant Warden Apprentice says:

“It is great to have started working at Cotehele and I am looking forward to exploring the woodlands and various other habitats to learn how to manage and protect this special historic and environmentally rich place.”

Myles will work to protect and improve the health and wildlife richness of the National Trust’s Cotehele Estate. He grew up and went to school in the local area and he knows the Tamar Valley well. Keen to enter the conservation sector, he unsuccessfully applied for similar roles around the country. However, the Tamara Trainees Project will give him the opportunity to stay close to home and study in a place he knows and loves.