Work with us

Whether you’re a job hunter searching for your next enriching role, or you’re an organisation hoping to explore a long-lasting partnership with us, the Ernest Cook Trust is always open to working with people that bring fresh perspectives on learning and land.

Ernest Cook Trust -

Plant the seeds for a long-lasting partnership or an enriching new career

From Cumbria to Dorset, through Leicestershire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, we have branched out across the country. Talk with us today to plant the seeds for future partnerships or to uncover a career that cultivates your own love for the land.

Job opportunities

A life learning from the land is in your hands, and it’s possible for all of us. Remember, whatever your position at the Ernest Cook Trust, be sure to keep a pair of wellies close by. We don't have any job opportunities at the moment, but keep an eye out here and on our social channels for any new roles.

Join us outdoors

Location: From our head office in Gloucestershire to our farm in Cumbria (and we're pretty flexible about hybrid working too)

Salary: Real living wage

Closing date: 28 January 2027

Find out more

View job opportunities

Our roots

The Ernest Cook Trust’s roots remain deeply grounded in our founder’s passion for the countryside. When Ernest Cook encountered great wealth, he combined this good fortune with his belief in preserving a rural way of life. After buying several country estates, he eventually gave them to the Ernest Cook Trust – the educational charity he founded in 1952.

Tenant farmer, river keeper, Outdoor Learning Leader or apprentice – all of us are united by a shared vision and belief: that the land is for all of us. Just as Ernest would have wanted.

Our values

These values aren’t just kept on paper – they’re in our nature. We embody them every minute of every day and they guide not just the work we do but the way we do it. Whether that’s tending the landscape or teaching the next generation.

Cultivating connections

Creating a sense of connection and belonging — to the land, between each other, and with new audiences.

Freedom to try

Committing to our belief that learning helps us thrive — whether from each other or across our land.

Progressive stewardship

Acknowledging that adaptation is necessary and builds resilience, but is rooted in a deep care for the land.

Our impact

We work with hundreds of tenants, staff and partners and we cover thousands of acres across the country.

Dig into our land and work

Country Trust

The Outward Bound Trust

Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust

Groundwork UK

Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts

Food, Farming & Countryside Commission

Youth Moves

Emergent Generation

University of Cumbria

Community Forest Trust

Farms For City Children (Gloucestershire)

Farms For City Children (Pembrokeshire)

The Shallowford Trust

Ufton Court

Magdalen Farm

Lambourne End Centre

Jamie’s Farm (Monmouth)

Jamie’s Farm (Lewes)

Jamie’s Farm (Hereford)

Jamie’s Farm (Bath)

Countryside Education Trust

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust

Wessex Rivers Trust

The Junction Foundation

Take A Part

SOS-UK

Somerset Wildlife Trust

RSPB

Ocean Conservation Trust

Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Morecambe Bay Partnership

Mersey Rivers Trust

Lancashire Wildlife Trust

Kent Wildlife Trust

Groundwork – Yorkshire

Groundwork – South

Groundwork – NE and Cumbria

Global Link

Cumbria Development Education Centre

Child Dynamix

Canal and Rivers Trust

Action for Conservation

Wild Garsdale Pike

West Cumbria Rivers Trust

The Boathouse Youth

Susan’s Farm CIO

IMO Charity

Headspace

Cumbria Development Education Centre

Creative Sustainability CIC

Bendrigg Trust

The Country Trust (Leics)

Lancashire Youth Challenge

Riversmeet Community Co-op Ltd

Newground Together 

LEAF (Cumbria) 

Burnley Leisure & Culture

Windmill Hill City Farm

Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum

Bristol Avon Rivers Trust

Avon Needs Trees

LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming)

Tewkesbury Nature Reserve

Severn Rivers Trust

The Birch Collective

Cotswold Conservation Board

Avon Wildlife Trust

Watchtree Nature Reserve

ParkView4U

LESS Lancaster District

Cumbria Wildlife Trust

Creative Sustainability

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

Small Woods

Gore Farm

Chatsworth

Forest of Bowland National Landscape

Low Beckside Farm Outdoor Learning Site

Fairford Outdoor Learning Sites

Trent Outdoor Learning Sites

Redwood Outdoor Learning Centre

Low Beckside Farm

Ernest Cook Trust Trent Estate

Ernest Cook Trust Slimbridge Estate

Ernest Cook Trust Barnsley Village Estate (Home Estates)

Ernest Cook Trust Filkins Estate (Home Estates)

Ernest Cook Trust Hatherop Estate (Home Estates)

Ernest Cook Trust Fairford Park Estate (Home Estates)

Ernest Cook Trust Hartwell Estate

Ernest Cook Trust Little Dalby Estate

Connecting with colleagues, a bloom of experts in their field, is always a delight. Conversations can dart from spotting water voles on the River Coln, to our latest endeavours in teacher training, to shaping our future as a modern grant-maker – I’m always learning.

Sarah White, Head of Grants and Influence