Inspiring places, inspiring people: Campaign for National Parks uses ‘National Parks Week’ to encourage more people to connect with iconic landscapes

There is nothing to stop you exploring Britain’s glorious National Parks at any time of the year – but if you do need an excuse then why not go during National Parks Week (26th July – 1st August).  The Campaign for National Parks’ (CNP) Mosaic Community Champions are taking the opportunity to encourage individuals, groups and communities from ethnic minority backgrounds, who would not normally visit the Parks, to get out and explore these unique and inspiring landscapes.     

Throughout July and during National Park’s Week CNP’s Community Champions will be organising trips and activities for hundreds of people.  From Taster Trips to the New Forest for Asian Elders and visits for school children to the Yorkshire Dales, to attending Community Festivals in the Lake District, the Mosaic team will be embracing the many opportunities for ensuring that National Parks are as accessible for as many people as possible.  

Now in its 10th year, CNP’s ground-breaking Mosaic project is working with ethnic minority leaders in 20 cities across the UK to build sustainable links with the National Parks.  Over 130 new community champions have helped to facilitate more than a 1,000 visits by new audiences in the last 18 months alone.  The current phase of the project is supported by Natural England through Access to Nature as part of The Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme. 

National Parks Week celebrates some of Britain’s most iconic landscapes and encourages more people to visit, understand and enjoy their special qualities.  It is fitting that this year’s National Parks Week focuses on ‘Inspiring places, inspiring people’ as CNP’s Community Champions demonstrate:

Community Champion, Nurjahan Ali Arobi has just won the 2010 Ken Willson Award for her work encouraging more people from black and minority ethnic (BME) groups to visit the Yorkshire Dales National Park.  “Nurjahan has an infectious enthusiasm for the Yorkshire Dales.   Everyone who hears her speak praises her warmth and ability to put forward her message about the Dales and its links with neighbouring communities.  In organising visits and advising staff on communicating with BME groups, Nurjahan is invaluable to the outreach work of both the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Yorkshire Dales Society.” (Spokesperson from Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority)

Community Champions tend to be influential members of a community who are committed to increasing the profile of the National Parks amongst their peers, are willing to organise visits to the Parks and are motivated to help shape the future protection and promotion of these special landscapes.  Mosaic provides practical support through training such as map reading and group leadership skills, but it’s the inspirational individuals who make things happen!  Earlier this year ten Community Champions took 130 people from their local community to the Peak District for the launch of a walking festival, and between April 2009 and March 2010 CNP’s Community Champions gave over 750 volunteer days to help promote the National Parks. 

To learn more about the events taking place in the Parks throughout National Parks Week visit http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/visiting/nationalparksweek.htm

To learn more about the specific activities being led by CNP’s Community Champions contact the Mosaic Programme Manager, Nina Arwitz: 020 7924 4077 ext. 227 / nina@cnp.org.uk 

Media Enquiries

Jo Hall, jo@cnp.org.uk / 020 7924 4077 ext 224

Notes to editors

1. The Campaign for National Parks (CNP) is a national charity dedicated to protecting and promoting all thirteen National Parks of England and Wales for the benefit and enjoyment of all.  Visit our brand new website to learn more www.cnp.org.uk  

2. Mosaic is a groundbreaking national project lead by the Campaign for National Parks that aims to build sustainable links between ethnic minority communities and the National Parks.  It focuses on those audiences who would not normally visit the Parks and provides them with the knowledge, tools and confidence to explore some of Britain’s most iconic landscapes.  It is a partnership between the Campaign for National Parks, the Youth Hostels Association and the organisations that help look after the National Parks in England: the Broads Authority, Dartmoor National Park Authority (NPA), Exmoor NPA, Lake District NPA, New Forest NPA, North York Moors NPA, Northumberland NPA, Peak District NPA and the Yorkshire Dales NPA.  For more information, please visit: www.mosaicnationalparks.org.uk. 

Location: London
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Outreach Work Earns Dales Award

The 2010 Ken Willson award was presented in Kettlewell on Saturday (10th July) to Nurjahan Ali Arobi by the Yorkshire Dales Society.

The annual award, which was created in 2005, is designed to commemorate the life and work of Ken Willson (1914-2003), a lifelong campaigner for the Yorkshire Dales, the First President of the Yorkshire Dales Society and a Chairman of Craven CPRE.

The Award is presented to a young person under 30 years of age who must live or work either within the Yorkshire Dales National Park or Nidderdale AONB, or in an adjacent community, and have made an important contribution to protecting, sustaining or enhancing the unique Yorkshire dales landscape, natural history or cultural heritage.

Bradford born and bred with Bangladeshi parentage, Nurjahan Ali Arobi from Shipley is this year’s outright winner of the award.

Nurjahan, aged 36, was nominated by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority for her involvement in the Dales over the past six years in her role as the Walking for Health coordinator for the NHS. The nomination explained that since her initial involvement through her job, Nurjahan has subsequently become increasingly committed as a volunteer to getting more people from black and Asian minority ethnic (BAME) groups to visit the National Park. She is now a Community Champion for the YDNPA as part of the Mosaic project, a national campaign which aims to build sustainable links between black and minority ethnic communities and the National Parks.

A spokesman from the YDNPA said “Nurjahan has an infectious enthusiasm for the Yorkshire Dales and as an accomplished public speaker she has spoken on behalf of her local community, the National Park Authority and for the Campaign for National Parks to many different groups ranging from YDNPA staff to government ministers and the media. Everyone who hears her speak praises her warmth and ability to put forward her message about the Dales and its links with neighbouring communities concisely and clearly.

In organising visits to the National Park by BAME groups, offering support and advice to YDNPA staff on communicating with BAME groups in encouraging visitors from those groups, Nurjahan is invaluable to the outreach work of both the YDNPA and, in turn, the Yorkshire Dales Society.”

Nurjahan was presented with her award at the Yorkshire Dales Society AGM which was held at The Racehorses Hotel in Kettlewell. By coincidence, the multi-cultural spirit she encapsulated was reflected in a music event hosted by the Society at Buckden the following day, which featured locals Rosie and Tim Boothman playing local Dales dances and songs alongside traditional South Asian music from West Yorkshire musicians. 

http://www.daelnet.co.uk/countrynews/country_news_14072010.cfm

Location: Yorkshire Dales
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