Independent charity the Campaign for National Parks is delighted to announce that it has been awarded more than a quarter of a million pounds from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme to get more young people into National Parks. The funding will allow the Campaign to support young people aged 16 to 25 who are facing economic or social exclusion to develop new skills and to build a national network of Young Champions for National Parks.
One hundred and fifty disadvantaged young people will be trained in new skills so that they can support other young people to get involved in National Parks, for example through organising events and activities. These practical experiences will engage them with new people and opportunities, build their leadership skills and confidence, and lead to better employment and training prospects.
Helen Jackson, chief executive of the Campaign for National Parks said: “The Big Lottery Fund and our Mosaic project partners have really come through for young people who want to do more to help themselves and others in their local communities by exploring our National Parks.
“We are delighted that our work to engage disadvantaged young people with National Parks can now go ahead. We hope that the Mosaic project will help these young people to have wonderful and life changing experiences as they develop skills to become leaders and active citizens within their communities, bringing more young people into National Parks.”
National Parks are extraordinary landscapes in which people can have extraordinary experiences. The Campaign for National Parks’ Mosaic project supports people to experience for themselves all the exciting things that National Parks offer and then to encourage their peers to get involved too. By the end of this phase of the Mosaic programme it is intended that the Young Champions will have got over 6,000 other young people into National Parks.
The Young Champions will also help National Parks to become more attractive and appealing to young people by working with National Park Authorities on becoming more ‘youth friendly’, thereby encouraging a new generation to be inspired by National Parks. Our key partners working with us to deliver this Mosaic project are the Youth Hostel Association and the National Park Authorities of Exmoor, the Lake District, the New Forest, Northumberland and the Yorkshire Dales.
The Campaign for National Parks’ has been running the award-winning Mosaic project in England for the last ten years and is currently running a Mosaic project for ethnic minority communities in the three Welsh National Parks. The evaluation of the England Mosaic project estimated that 220 Champions had organised activities and events for over 9,000 people and introduced approximately 28,000 people to National Parks.
The National Parks were created over sixty years ago for the benefit of the public. It is important that everyone has an equal opportunity to choose to access and be inspired by our most spectacular landscapes.
For more information and to arrange interviews, please contact: Natasha Roe on 07528 663141 or email natasha@redpencil.co.uk
