The YHA Trafford in Chester was home to the second Outdoor Connection event on 1 – 2 March 2024 – an incredible face-to-face gathering specifically aimed at people working to break down barriers to the outdoors. The event is also a celebration of the fantastic work of Outdoor Citizens, a community of practice which offers resources, skills and funding, empowering community groups to continue their work, while helping larger organisations to keep delivering on their goal to create a more inclusive outdoors.
The event is supported by Natural England and Sport England and hosted by the YHA and non-profit community network All The Elements, who sums things up perfectly by describing the event as “an opportunity for change-makers to come together, share ideas, develop skills and get inspired for what’s next.”
TCLW were thrilled to be invited as a supporting partner in Wales, to represent the work our Designated Landscapes are doing to be truly ‘Landscapes for Everyone’, and we were honoured to be given a seat on the closing panel to talk about collaboration across the sector, the positives and the pitfalls.
The event included a number of sessions run by expert facilitators but also provided an opportunity for attendees to connect to — and learn from — each other. TCLW made a number of wonderful connections with some incredible organisations and look forward to making these connections with our Landscape teams. A highlight was watching the fantastic team at EYST in Wrexham, who we had invited to attend, join up with Surfability UK CIC based in Swansea to make plans to take groups from EYST’s head Swansea office to experience the Gower coast!
A huge thank you from TCLW to the Outdoor Citizens team and the YHA – we are already looking forward to the Outdoor Connection in 2025!