31st December 2021
Hi everyone,
We're taking a break between seasons, but still bringing you some Insights to what's happening outdoors. I hope you find the stories interesting - let me know if you have thoughts and we can share on out website and socials.
And in some personal news - I'm moving out of London and down to the South coast this month... so anyone around Chichester/Bognor/Worthing areas - hit me up!
Here's to 2022 🎉
- Fran
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🎧 In case you missed it:
Episode 6 went out at the start of this month. Kirsty, Soraya and I managed to get together at Kendal to talk about the festival. Plus we hear thoughts from listeners, panellists and speakers who were at the festival. As mentioned at the start this is the last episode of the season - if you have any feedback for the first series, please do reply to this email!
The Great Outdoors Reader Awards winners have been announced...
The winners of The Great Outdoor Reader Awards were announced on 21st December. The awards have been going for 10 years and cover categories include 'Walkers’ Pub of the year', 'Outdoor personality of the year' and 'Outdoor film or filmmaker of the year', and 'Outdoor book of the year' - but noticeably not a Outdoor podcast of the year. Time to start petitioning..? Congratulations to all the winners!
Read more >>
National Parks are looking for younger volunteers
Some National Parks are launching campaigns to encourage younger people to volunteer at the parks. The Yorkshire Dales national park has launched two campaigns after noticing that none of its 300 regular volunteers was under the age of 30, whilst The North York Moors is looking for people interested in being on its youth council. The average age of volunteers in some national parks is currently more than 60 years old. The older demographic of volunteers is due to the "ageing rural populations, competing demands on young people’s time and a lack of accessibility by public transport".
Read more >>
A Twitter thread highlights some missing countryside protections in the Policing Bill
George Monbiot has created a thread on Twitter that questions the Policing Bill's targeting of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities (GRT). The thread also suggests other aspects of law & order in the countryside that have been ignored by the Bill - such as fox hunting and mass dumping of sewage and farm waste in rivers and seas. The Bill would make stopping at places without planning permission a criminal offence, which will affect GRT as well as all recreational van camping, and van life.
Read more >>
14 Peaks is now on Netflix
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible is now available on Netflix. The film follows Nims Purja's 'Project Possible' challenge to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks in seven months, and is made by the same team that made Free Solo. Well worth a watch, and you can also listen to the folks from KMF talk about the film on the podcast, Flixwatcher.
And in other news:
The winner of the 2021 Nan Shepherd Prize is Marchelle Farrell. Her submission, Uprooting, is the story of Marchelle Farrell’s journey, as a Black Caribbean immigrant to the UK, of seeking belonging in an English country garden. Read more >>
Muslim Hikers have had massive support after a high-profile walk on Mam Tor. The group received racist trolling online after a walk over the bank holiday weekend, but have since appeared on the news and gained thousands of followers! Read more >>
Procycling magazine has just released its last ever issue. The magazine has been running for 22 years. Read more >>
The Outward Bound Trust was chosen as one of The Times and Sunday Times Christmas appeal charities. Read more >>
The Initial Results of the Your Movement Matters survey have been released by Leeds Beckett University. The data will be valuable in helping to support diversity projects. Read more >>
And the winner of the Live For The Outdoors UK Mountain Photo of the Year has been announced. Check out Joseph Hill's amazing shot from Ben Nevis here >>
A special thank you goes to our Support Crew sponsors, Wild For Scotland and Charlie's Supply Company. Your early sponsorship has given us enough money to pay for the RSS Feed to launch the show!! Do click through the links to check out the incredible work they are doing.
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