Yorkshire Dales: Concern over ageing national park volunteer army
- Published
The park needed 7,000 volunteer days a year, according to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
A national park which relies on an army of older volunteers to help out must attract more young people too, the organisation which runs it has warned.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority said none of its 325 regular volunteers were under 30 - and the average age of those helping was 63.
The volunteers undertake a range of work, such as footpath maintenance.
But attracting younger people in the face of growing wages and job vacancies would be difficult, the authority said.
At a meeting, members of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority were told a new strategy would focus on ensuring it could provide 7,000 volunteer days a year and that 15% of volunteers would come from under-represented groups.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the meeting heard that only 3% of volunteers were from diverse backgrounds and 3% considered themselves to have a long-term illness or disability.
Nick Cotton, from the authority, said it was important to highlight the skills and improved confidence volunteers stood to gain.
"What we have to accept is the value of volunteering cuts both ways," he said.
"We as an authority benefit from people that do this work volunteering and the volunteers themselves get a huge amount from this."
Hundreds of volunteers help to maintain the Yorkshire Dales National Park's unique landscape
As part of the strategy, the authority said it was looking at new ways for people to volunteer and would review its expenses and training policies to ensure they did not present barriers.
However, one member warned the authority it should not ignore its current volunteers just because of their age.
Richard Foster, who is also leader of Craven District Council, said many had taken early retirement and were "prepared to put something back into the community".
"Make sure you look after the ones you know you can get while still making an attempt to get the younger ones, but I think you might find it a little difficult," Mr Foster said.
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