The new service will connect people with learning and training opportunities in Cumbria’s land and nature-based sector.
Tracey Jackson has been appointed as manager for the Land and Nature Skills Service (LANSS), a new service connecting people with learning and training opportunities in Cumbria’s land and nature-based sector. The new organisation will also facilitate the development of skills provision to meet learner and employer needs and promote land and nature based jobs in Cumbria.
Having worked across Lancashire and Cumbria as a Rural Chartered Surveyor and most recently managed the Environment and Forestry Team at H&H Land & Estates, Tracey brings a wealth of network contacts and experience to drive forward the launch and delivery of LANSS.
Tracey lives in West Cumbria with her husband on a beef and sheep farm, and having grown up in Cumbria is passionate about raising the profile of career and employment prospects in the rural sector throughout the region.
Tracey said: “I am delighted to join LANSS and encouraged by the fantastic support which LANSS has from across the rural sector, the support and collaboration from education, business, non-profit organizations and the public sector is outstanding.”
LANSS is funded through a range of sources including significant grant funding from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme. Tracey explained: “We are at an exciting stage of developing the LANSS with the branding and website build and recruitment of two new team members currently underway. We hope to have the branding and website in place by mid-June and a formal launch of the service by early September 2024.”
Managing Director of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce (who are the accountable body for the LANSS) and LANSS board member, Suzanne Caldwell, said on Tracey’s appointment: “It’s great to see the project coming to fruition, it has been 3 years in the planning, and we are thrilled that Tracey has joined us.”
In addition to the Chamber, the governing board running the LANSS includes the University of Cumbria who will provide a base for the LANSS team in Low Nook on their Ambleside Campus, The Farmer Network who will work closely with the LANSS team, as well as Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Westmorland & Furness Council, Cumberland Council and the North Pennines Natural Landscape.
