YDMT bid wins €30,000

July 15, 2011

You may recall that, back in March, we were asking you to support our bid for a €30,000 from the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA)….

Well, the results have just been announced and I’m delighted to be able to confirm that – with your help – we won the public vote (with 45% of the votes) and secured this crucial funding boost!!  Thank you to everyone who voted for our project!

We will be working closely with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority to deliver our winning project which aims to help the area’s fragile ecosystem by restoring a section of the footpath network near Pen y ghent which has become badly eroded over the years as topsoil has been washed away, causing significant damage to internationally-important peat habitat. 

With the help of this money an alternative, sustainable route over Whitber Hill will be developed.

Walking on Pen y ghent

Our winning bid was submitted by YDMT Projects Development Officer Don Gamble, who said: “I was absolutely thrilled to hear that we had won the funding.  We knew we had a truly deserving project up our sleeves with the restoration and maintenance of part of the iconic Three Peaks route, but we have been blown away by the level of support our bid received in the public vote – thank you!   It’s wonderful to know that the public love the Three Peaks as much as we do.  The work that the €30,000 grant will pay for will really make a difference to people’s enjoyment of the route.”

Tanya Bascombe, General Manager of European Outdoor Conservation Association, said: “We were very impressed by the Three Peaks bid submitted by the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust. The project sailed through the initial stages to become one of the four projects in the final UK public vote.  The project clearly also resonated with the readers of Trail magazine and the general public as people voted in their thousands and YDMT’s bid led the poll from the outset. We are confident that this €30,000 grant will make a huge difference to the future of this iconic and ever-popular route, and hope that generations to come will enjoy the benefits of the work we have made possible.”