Arkady Bogg-Hargroves and Suzannah Barningham are very lucky people. They are employed in a place where jobs for young people are hard to find - the Yorkshire Dales.

They have been recruited by the Yorkshire Dales National Park from the Dales Rural Trainee Scheme launched last November by the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust.

The two year programme, for young people aged 18 to 24, combines hands-on work placements with a complementary Level 2 Diploma in a number of related subjects.

Arkady and Suzannah are lucky because chances of finding work in the wider reaches on Craven and when you are young and relatively unskilled, are very slim. Many young people simply have to move out.

It's a dilemma experienced by rural communities in England and next month representatives from all the national parks in the Uk will be exploring the subject at the annual meeting of the National Parks Societies at Coniston Hotel Country Estate.

The three day conference organised by the Yorkshire Dales Society in partnership with the Yorkshire Dales National Park, explores opportunities for young people in Britain's special landscapes. It falls in the year that the YDNP is celebrating it's Silver Jubilee.

Yorkshire Dales Society boss, John Avison, former Deputy Chief Executive of the YDNPA, has taken the lead on conference planning.

He said: “We are really excited to be hosting this national conference exploring the opportunities for young people to live, work and enjoy themselves in our national parks.

“We constantly hear that rural communities are in decline and that young people have to move away to find work. There is, of course, truth in that but we want to show that there are good things happening as well and that, given enthusiasm and resources, we can help to make things better for the future.”

Craven Councillor Robert Heseltine, a member of the YDNP , said rural North Yorkshire had suffered for decades from being a low pay economy.

The new Local Enterprise Partnerships concentrated their investment on the urban areas and major private businesses.

"Remote rural areas are a poor relation of local economies. I hope this conference can assist in motivating Government to give a fair deal to our Dales.

"The result of the Scottish Referendum is good news for the English rural regions. We demand financial devolution for our economies regeneration to be managed locally."

Craven Councillor Richard Foster, who makes his living in the Dales, said: "I applaud the work done by the Park and Trust with their apprentice schemes but we have one of the highest levels of self employed and sole trader businesses in the country.

"I think the real problem is job quality. We must create jobs which can service a mortgage or more realistically a rent within the Dales where the supply of housing of all tenures is still very low."

Faster broadband would would entice or create more diverse employment in which people could work nearer to where they lived. Planners would have to be engaged in helping to make it happen, he said.

Arkady, who had completed a joinery course, but still could not find work is specialising in environmental conservation.

He said: "I’m learning all sorts of things from using machinery like strimmers and chainsaws to footpath maintenance."

Arkady was invited to help supervise members of the Young Rangers group, which was formed by the YDNPA to encourage young people aged from 11 to 16 who have an interest in the outdoors by teaching them new skills.

“I feel very lucky to have got a place. It’s giving me so many skills and will potentially open so many doors for me for the future but, hopefully, when the scheme finishes, I will get a job with the National Park.”

Suzannah Barningham joined the scheme after spotting an advert while working for North Yorkshire County Council.

“I live in the National Park in Low Row in Swaledale and my Dad farms there so I have an interest in farming and I am also interested in the environment and getting the balance right between the two,” she said.

“I’m really enjoying the work and I’ve done quite a variety of jobs already since I’ve been here like dry stone walling, repairing stiles and making gates, and I’ve also helped with dormouse monitoring.

“I would definitely like to continue working in environmental conservation because I have really enjoyed all the things I’ve done so far and the training scheme is helping me to get all the qualifications I need – it’s ideal.”

To check on places at the conference see yds.org.uk for more information.