New report highlights LEAF Education’s impact on young people

LEAF Education has launched its latest Impact Report, which reveals how its work is delivering meaningful, experiential learning opportunities for young people to embed a better understanding of the agri-food industry.

Some highlights from the report include:

• 733,530 young people benefitting from LEAF Education’s work in 2023
• Direct delivery to 38,032 young people on farm, or in the classroom - totalling 42,370 hours
• 296,280 young people engaging in activities downloaded from Countryside Classroom
• 260,306 young people engaging in #FarmingFortnight 2023
• 72,000 young people exploring Why Farming Matters activity pack
• 64,412 young people engaged in activities through our project work
• 2,500 young people involved in the Teenager research
• 1,471 Teachers supported in their CPD - totalling 3,091 hours
• 609 Farmers trained - totalling 3,032 hours

In a foreword to the Impact Report, HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh GCVO and Honorary President of LEAF, explained: "It has been my privilege to witness firsthand how LEAF Education have opened the eyes of so many young people to the world of opportunities in the agrifood sector. In the past year alone, I have seen countless times how direct, hands-on farm experiences can transform someone’s thinking, and give us all a much deeper understanding of the relationship between food production and planetary health.

“LEAF Education’s goal is to raise young people’s aspirations, to champion exciting career opportunities available in the food sector, and ensure we are all better informed as a society about how our personal food choices can make a difference to sustainability and climate change. The achievements outlined in these pages illustrate the positive progress we have made on that journey. I am so grateful to everyone who has made this important work possible, and I look forward to seeing what more we can achieve together in the months and years to come.”

Carl Edwards, LEAF Director, Education and Public Engagement, summarised:

“We are proud to empower young people to have a voice, provide them with the opportunity to listen, learn and experience, all while questioning them, in order to help drive true systematic change. The impact of our work and that of the agri-food industry can, and does, lead to positive outcomes for all - from providing young people with the opportunity to visit a farm and see how their food is produced, to working in partnership and collaborating with organisations to develop conscious future consumers who appreciate sustainable food production and farming practices, and consider how their personal food choices can have a climate positive impact."

“Over this last year we continue to be overwhelmed by the engagement of like-minded organisations, individual farmers, educators and more, with whom we have built a strong working relationship that has delivered these incredible results and real, tangible outcomes. We look forward to how we develop these relationships further over the coming year and beyond as the agri-food industry’s partner of choice in delivering meaningful education and wider public engagement opportunities. We are here to lead, to convene, to measure and to deliver transformative change.”