Open Country

Case Study: Open Country

Open Country is a charity that exists to help people with disabilities to access and enjoy the countryside.

It does this through a wide variety of activities for people to join – including tandem clubs, walking groups, accessible outings and conservation work groups.

Open Country also produces free resources to help the wider community to access and enjoy the great outdoors. These include online ‘audio’ walks, countryside directories and ‘breakfree’ packs, with inspiration for accessible walks and trails across Yorkshire.

How Support from the Delamere Dairy Foundation Helped

Our Open Country conservation work parties based in Wakefield and Harrogate benefit the members who enjoy taking part, the wider communities, and the environment.

The members get a real sense of achievement and feeling part of a team, as well as enjoying the health and well-being benefits of working outside.

The work itself has delivered tangible environmental and access improvements across Yorkshire. This includes tree planting, hedge-laying, path clearing and rewilding.

The funds from Delamere Diary Foundation allowed us to carry out more of this work – through helping cover the costs of trained staff and accessible transport, as well as providing some specialist equipment to carry out the work.

What the Funding Achieved

Over the 6-month period, 61 vulnerable people were able to take part in around 250 conservation tasks.

These included:

• The planting over more than 300 native saplings as part of the White Rose Forest
• Restoring an overgrown meadow on the edge of town to allow wildflowers to return and support an orchid population
• Ensuring a woodland beauty spot in Nidderdale is now accessible to all, by working on path resurfacing.

Testimonials

Kenzie has a learning disability and is a member of one of our conservation groups in Wakefield. She said: “I really enjoy getting out and meeting other people. I like being part of the Trailblazers (conservation work parties) because we do work which helps other people too, like clearing paths for people in wheelchairs.”

James has been coming out with Open Country conservation work groups for 15 years and has a learning disability. He says: “I like doing the different jobs in different places. I come out on Tuesdays and on Fridays. It stops me getting bored and it makes a change to see different places. Sometimes we go to places like York and Otley to do work. My favourite things have been bulb planting and tree planting. I like to keep fit and active and Open Country helps this.”

Simon said: “I’ve been coming out with Open Country since I was 19 – I’m 43 now! I like doing conservation work and being part of a team and working together. My favourite activity is tree planting. It’s very rewarding because you can see the difference you’ve made and it will be around for a long time.”

Jamie: “I like being with Open Country because I like being in the outdoors in the fresh air and all the gardening jobs. It makes me feel happy inside – it’s good!”