A DONATION of £3,500 has enabled more than 130 disadvantaged young people and children from urban areas in West Yorkshire and North Lancashire to have a breather from city life and enjoy the fresh air and rolling countryside of the Yorkshire Dales.

The David Brooke Charity, which aims to support disadvantaged children and young adults, donated the funds to Clapham-based Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) to support its People and the DALES project.

The pioneering outreach project provides disadvantaged groups from urban areas with opportunities to enjoy and experience the health and wellbeing benefits of spending time in the natural environment of the Yorkshire Dales through activities such as walks, farm visits, conservation work and crafts.

Judy Rogers, community worker at YDMT, said: “There has been much in the news recently about the need for taking exercise. It is important to develop good habits at an early age and we hope that through a range of outdoor activities we can encourage more and more young people to become active and inspired by the countryside.

"We are very grateful for the continued support of The David Brooke Charity which enables us to provide disadvantaged young people with opportunities to develop leadership skills, develop friendships, build confidence and have fun.”

The People and the DALES diary is already looking busy for 2015, with more than 30 events already planned during the coming months, each one designed to enthuse, inspire, challenge and develop the potential of many more disadvantaged groups.

The David Brooke Charity was established by the late David Brooke, grandson of Arthur Brooke who started Brooke Bond Tea, with the aim of supporting disadvantaged children and young adults.

David Brooke’s son Nigel, who now runs the charity, said: “The David Brooke charity is pleased to be involved with this project. When my father set up the charity this was just the type of project he had in mind to support. The David Brooke Charity has a long association with working with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and long may in continue.”

One of the groups to benefit from this support was a group of hard-to-reach youngsters from Carlton Bolling College in Bradford who joined YDMT and the National Trust for a day on Heber Farm in Buckden.

After touring the farm, meeting the livestock and learning about the landscape, the group got stuck in planting trees on an area prone to flooding.

Chris Calveley, a teacher at Carlton Bolling College, said: “Working with the People and the DALES project has provided students from Carlton Bolling College, a school in a socially deprived area of Bradford, with a unique opportunity to go beyond their urban boundary and experience, participate in and be educated about life in the Yorkshire Dales, a place which some of them never knew existed.”