Recently, our Future Gardeners project team submitted written evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee's inquiry into Education and Careers in Land-based Sectors.

The committee sees MPs looking at career pathways into land-based sectors, which cover outdoor jobs like farming and horticulture, how the sector can attract and retain workers, and what its future workforce might look like.

Future Gardeners

Bankside Open Spaces Trust submitted written evidence to the committee from Louisa Mansfield and Shereen Chung-Blake of our Future Gardeners programme. Our evidence focused on the value of environmental horticulture, its benefits to the economy, and proven track record of tackling inequalities in employment for minority groups and those with disabilities. We asked that environmental horticulture be included in the government’s green jobs and skills definitions and that the value of this sector is recognised.

Future Gardeners is our free horticultural training course, designed to reduce financial and educational barriers for people interested in exploring a career in gardening, landscaping, or any of the varied routes horticulture can take you. The course welcomes students from all backgrounds and is a successful model for getting those who have been excluded from employment back into training or paid work. 50% of our Future Gardeners SEND students gain employment after graduation, this bucks the national trend of 69% of people with disabilities being out of work.

The Committee accepted our evidence and it is now published on the committee’s website.

Bankside Open Spaces Trust - championing horticulture

Below is a snapshot of our written evidence Bankside Open Spaces Trust’s Future Gardeners team submitted to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee's inquiry into Education and Careers in Land-based Sectors.

As a nation we are experiencing the most unfavourable economic climate in 60 years. In these tough times, one of our greatest challenges is to address the rising levels of people who are not in education, employment, or training.

The horticulture industry contributes £24billion to the UK economy each year and employs 568,700 people. The sector offers a range of careers - whether scientific, creative, technical, or manual. With this in mind, we believe future governments must include environmental horticulture in their green jobs and skills definitions and recognise its value.

Horticulture and landscaping combine an understanding of our world’s natural sciences with creative art and practical skills. Environmental horticulture is perfectly placed to develop the skills and expertise needed in our fight against climate change. It also provides scope to boost people’s health and wellbeing through outdoor activities. For example, four in five teachers who signed up to the RHS Campaign for School Gardening reported that gardening had a significant positive impact on pupil health and wellbeing.

However, despite these vast opportunities, there is still much work to be done to fully promote and support environmental horticulture.

Challenges within horticulture

As the House of Lords Committee on Horticulture Report in November 2023 noted: "Despite its economic contribution, horticulture is widely misunderstood and poorly promoted. Governmental oversight is patchy, and both the professional and amateur horticulture sectors are facing challenging circumstances that could put their future in jeopardy… Yet, with the right support, policies and funding, the UK horticultural sector can become a world leader in the sustainable practices and policies that will ensure generations to come can enjoy the full variety of produce grown in Britain."

London Green Spaces Commission Report, published in 2020 by the Mayor of London’s London Green Spaces Commission, highlighted challenges the sector is facing: “The green space sector is facing a crisis with a loss of staff capacity, skills and expertise… worsened by a lack of career progression and professional recognition, difficulty in gaining transferable skills, poor workforce diversity and the fact that it is currently a relatively self-contained sector.”

Horticulture jobs as green jobs and skills

Previously horticultural jobs have been excluded from the government’s definition of green jobs and skills. This exclusion is a failure to understand and recognise the industry and the green impact it has.

Defining horticulture jobs as green jobs and skills at a government level would allow the sector access to the ‘Green Sector’. This would create more opportunities for the training and recruitment needed to address critical staff and skills gaps. Gaps made worse by the industry’s aging workforce.

Horticulture for all

Providing the right type and level of support to those wishing to have a career in environmental horticulture is fundamental to opening the industry to all. The Government must set clear EDI targets for the sector and support organisations which have a proven track record of achieving them.

Due to the nature of a career in horticulture, the industry provides an excellent opportunity to address inequalities in employment improving society for all.

As we know, disproportionately high levels of unemployment are seen in autistic adults, with best estimates indicating that 80% of adults with Asperger Syndrome have been unable to secure long term employment. Unemployment for people with disabilities in general is 69% compared to 43% of the general population. As results from our Future Gardeners programme show, appropriate training in horticulture coupled with employment coaching and support can buck that trend with 50% of our Future Gardeners SEND students gaining employment after graduation.

Black, Asian and other ethnic groups face employment struggles

Looking at analysis of the London Labour market, certain “Priority groups” (Black men aged 16 – 24 and 50+, Black women, Pakistani women, Bangladeshi women) face the highest levels of labour market inequality in London. These groups experience multiple levels of exclusion due to the inter-section between ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, age, disability, and other characteristics.

Our Future Gardeners course serves these communities at above national average levels, with over 50% of students identifying as from these groups. More investment into environmental horticultural education institutions is needed for us, and organisations like us, to continue to do so.

Affordable education and horticulture training

Over a decade of running Future Gardeners has allowed us to explore the barriers to education, employment and training for disadvantaged people in horticulture. One of the biggest barriers we’ve noted is access to affordable education and horticulture training.

London has just one substantial multi-campus horticultural college - Capel Manor. The four London universities that offer a course in horticulture charge fees ranging from £16,500 to £29,000 making entry and progression in the industry limited to those who can afford to do so.

Other barriers include access to transport, careers advice, employment and training support.

The future Government can make the UK a global leader in environmental horticulture through investment in careers and education from early curriculum to apprenticeships and degree-level. With Government support and backing, our Future Gardeners could expand to a national horticultural programme embedded within community organisations that are well placed to tackle the skills shortages in the horticultural industry as well as social inequalities in employment and access to green areas.

“We cannot afford this waste of human potential that blights the lives of the individuals concerned. We know that being NEET is associated with negative life outcomes including unemployment, reduced earnings, poor health and depression.“ Government 2010

(Link image credit: Eleanor Bentall (rspb-images.com) )