{"id":588330,"date":"2025-11-23T07:43:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T07:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/588330\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T07:43:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T07:43:22","slug":"leeds-charity-hails-invaluable-yorkshire-dales-accessibility-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/588330\/","title":{"rendered":"Leeds charity hails ‘invaluable’ Yorkshire Dales accessibility project"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FeelFeel Good Factor Leeds<\/p>\n

Feel Good Factor runs regular trips to the Yorkshire Dales<\/p>\n

A charity has praised a national park’s plan to attract a greater diversity of visitors, saying access to the countryside had an “immeasurable” impact on wellbeing.<\/p>\n

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) recently unveiled its management plan to improve accessibility over the next five years – with boosting diversity one of six key ambitions.<\/p>\n

Feel Good Factor Leeds (FGF) is working with the authority to give groups from underserved communities the opportunity to visit the Dales.<\/p>\n

Beverley Gilbert, community worker at the charity, said the trips helped people realise “the Yorkshire Dales is for everybody, whoever you are”.<\/p>\n

A relationship with the national park was “invaluable” in opening up the countryside, she added.<\/p>\n

The proposals from the YDNPA include working with community groups to run activity days and offering extra support to underserved communities to help them access the park.<\/p>\n

The plan also aims to provide at least 7,000 volunteer days per year, with the ambition that at least 20% of participants come from underserved communities.<\/p>\n

FGF supports communities across Leeds, including people with disabilities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.<\/p>\n

Alongside financial factors, a lack of representation in the past may have excluded certain groups and made them feel the Dales “weren’t for them”, Ms Gilbert said.<\/p>\n

“Getting our members and our communities out to the Yorkshire Dales has been an eye-opener for them,” she explained.<\/p>\n

\"YorkshireYorkshire Dales National Park<\/p>\n

A plan has been unveiled to encourage greater diversity in the Yorkshire Dales<\/p>\n

One annual trip involves taking groups of children and young adults into the national park, with transport and activities provided by the park authority.<\/p>\n

Some in the group have never left Leeds, according to Ms Gilbert.<\/p>\n

“To see the excitement and the intrigue on their faces – I still see them now and they’re still talking about it. The impact it makes is immeasurable, it really is.”<\/p>\n

In the future, she said she hoped FGF and other community groups – with the help of the national park authority – could introduce a broader age range of people to the benefits of the countryside.<\/p>\n

Other objectives included in the five-year management plan are restoring wildlife, mitigating the effects of climate change and boosting the local economy.<\/p>\n

David Sharrod, outgoing chair of the National Park Management Plan Partnership, said: “These objectives are measurable and grounded in reality.<\/p>\n

“This isn’t vague ‘motherhood and apple pie’ – it’s about putting local people at the heart of real change.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feel Good Factor Leeds Feel Good Factor runs regular trips to the Yorkshire Dales A charity has praised…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,393,4884,1860,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-588330","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leeds","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-leeds","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115597897669103431","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}