In 2009 the Yorkshire Dales LEADER programme awarded between £2,000 and £5,000 to 21 parish councils to employ or contract a Parish Caretaker to look after their local environment and community assets.
LEADER then funded ‘Caring for the Parish’ in December 2009, a scheme run by YDMT in partnership with Nidderdale Plus. The scheme works to support parishes that have employed/contracted a Parish Caretaker in the Yorkshire Dales, Nidderdale AONB and the surrounding area.
The aim of ‘Caring for the Parish’ is to promote greater community-led action in rural areas.
What does a Parish Caretaker do?
The Parish Caretaker role is a mix of the traditional ‘Parish Lengthsman’ with a very strong environmental and heritage focus. The caretakers’ duties are decided by members of their own local community, and can include:
- Creating meadows on village greens
- Roadside verge management
- Installing maintaining signs and way markers
- Looking after playgrounds and church yards
- Putting up nest boxes
- Maintaining village halls
Co-ordinating the scheme
The Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust co-ordinate ‘Caring for the Parish’ providing information, expert advice and bespoke training. We help deliver health and safety training for roadside verge work, run funding workshops and facilitate advice from partnership organisations such as Nidderdale Plus, North Yorkshire County Council, Yorkshire Dales National Park and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
The funding for this project is being made available through the Rural Development Programme for England, which is jointly funded by Defra and the European Union.
Click here to find out more about European Funding.
Downloads
Caring for the Parish leaflet