Graham Duxbury, CEO of Groundwork, started his career in the sector with us back when we were named BTCV and started moving towards focusing our work on people and society as well as the environment. Graham’s story is one of skills development, career exploration and camaraderie! We’re proud to have been part of Graham’s early career. He now leads a brilliant charity that takes practical action to create a fair and green future in which people, places, and nature thrive – something we’re huge advocates for too.
By Graham Duxbury
Like many young people I left university with few ideas about what I wanted to do with my life and even less experience that might serve useful in landing a job. An enjoyment of words and pictures suggested advertising, but the thought of spending my time selling things nobody really needs didn’t fill me with inspiration.
In the late 80s and early 90s my consciousness of environmental issues was slowly emerging, but living in a mill town in the North West of England most environmental campaigns and organisations felt distant. When someone told me there was one on my doorstep and that I could get involved straight away I was amazed. Before long I found myself in the BTCV office in converted canalside buildings in Burnley, and I was off.
The next couple of years were full of the usual extremes – drystone walling in the beautiful Pennine countryside one weekend, banging in fenceposts in a backstreet allotment in the pouring rain the next. But there was something about the camaraderie, the connection with nature and the smell of the van that kept me coming back.
In the meantime, my yearning to do some design work was spotted and I soon had an ‘office job’ helping with the marketing. Thankfully this was at a time when it was possible to volunteer while on benefits – and BTCV definitely benefited from many the courses I was sent on to ‘improve my professional skills’ by the Jobcentre!
Despite the feelings of inadequacy that being an ‘unemployed graduate’ brought, I kept going and the experience propelled me into paid work – establishing a foothold in the voluntary sector and then working my way round to a junior promotional role at Groundwork, an organisation originally backed by BTCV when it was a fledgling experiment in the early 80s. I’ve stayed at Groundwork ever since, trying to do my bit to make environmental action inclusive and accessible to wide range of people, recognising that not everyone has the support and opportunities that were available to me.
My time at BTCV was short-lived but absolutely pivotal. It broadened my understanding of the multiple benefits to be achieved from protecting and improving the local environment and helped me realise that it was possible to forge a career that reflected my passion and desire to make a difference in the world. Thank you!
Find out more about Groundwork at their website here.
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