Championing National Parks

Championing National Parks for everyone

Our vision is that everyone be confident to visit and enjoy our National Parks. This means that everyone can receive the health and wellbeing benefits of spending time in the parks and has the knowledge to help protect them. However, we know there are inequalities in accessing the National Parks, including people from ethnically diverse communities.

Building on the successes of the two-year development phase, we have now received a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver the Championing National Parks for Everyone project. The project aims to work with people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.

The project is led by the charity Peak District Mosaic. They will work with the Peak District National Park, North York Moors National Park and Yorkshire Dales National Park to run the project across those different parks and their nearby cities. Derbyshire Dales Council for Voluntary Service is also a project partner, working to help build capacity and infrastructure.

We hope that the project will support more people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities to have the skills and resources to build a lifelong relationship with their National Parks.

What we hope the project will achieve

We are currently delivering a range of opportunities across and around the three National Parks to work with people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities to:

• Support more people to connect with nature and enjoy the National Parks.
• Deliver outdoor activity days and training events that develop skills, confidence and awareness of the benefits of National Parks.
• Deliver training sessions and provide resources to create a network of Community Champions, who are empowered to lead their own visits that introduce others to the National Parks in the way they think best.
• Provide new employment and training opportunities in the sector.
• Provide a variety of volunteering opportunities meeting the needs and interests of these communities.

To find out more visit the Peak District Mosaic website.

Monthly activity events

We are working with various community groups to co-design and co-deliver activity days out in the Peak District for their members and will cater to a variety of needs. For example, they could be suitable for people who have not visited National Parks before. Attending one of these guided events could help to support people to gain the confidence to visit again. These activities will include those suitable for family groups - but children may only attend when accompanied by an adult. Or they could also be for people who are already visitors to the National Parks, but wish to get more involved with volunteering or the Community Champion Training Programme.

If you are involved with a community group from Sheffield, Manchester or a town close to the Peak District National Park, and would like to discuss the opportunity to plan an outing for your members, please get in touch with Andrea Antoniou (Project Officer CNPfE in the Peak District National Park) via email andrea.antoniou@peakdistrict.gov.uk or phone number: 01629 816200.

Community Champion Training Programme

A Community Champion is... a curious, adaptable and open-hearted individual who is eager to explore the natural world, connect with other like-minded individuals and inspire interest in others about our National Parks.

The Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, and the North York Moors National Park Authorities will each deliver three cohorts of Community Champion Training throughout 2025.

The opportunity is in three parts:

• Six days of training run by the National Park.
• Planning and delivering your own event for others from your community.
• Further opportunities with Peak District Mosaic after training.

The six training days will be delivered on weekends, spanning across six months. There will be three 1-day training sessions, a weekend residential consisting of 2-days and 1-night, and a final 1-day celebration event.

Participants will have the opportunity to run their own activity and to put their newly-learnt leadership skills into practise. Participants are given a bursary to fund their own activities. (The bursary can only be accessed upon successful completion of the Community Champion training and submitting an activity plan to the Project Officer).

Community Champions will continue to be supported by Peak District Mosaic after training, with the offer of future training opportunities and CNPfE networking events where Community Champions from all three National Parks get together to share experiences and practise.

The dates for the second cohort of Community Champions are as follows:

If you have any questions about the role, or you would like to discuss this opportunity further, please get in touch with Andrea Antoniou (Project Officer CNPfE in the Peak District National Park).

To apply, simply fill out this Application Form and email it to andrea.antoniou@peakdistrict.gov.uk by 18 May 2025.

The Championing National Parks Campaign is made possible with the National Lotter Heritage Fund.