Client
Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
Focus
This study conducted an economic evaluation of two nature-based wellbeing initiatives in the Yorkshire Dales National Park: the Dales Fell-Being courses and the Wednesday Wanders. Both programmes promoted access to nature to support mental and physical health. Dales Fell-Being offered six sessions over three months to help 18–30-year-olds build their confidence to access the National Park for running recreation and activity. The Wednesday Wanders programme (co-designed with creative wellbeing partners from Orb Community Arts and Pioneer Projects) was an eight-week programme and explored the Dales. All activities were designed to promote understanding and enjoyment of the YDNP and support participants to feel the wellbeing benefits.
Purpose of project
The evaluation assessed the mental and physical health benefits delivered by the courses, using best-practice economic guidance and techniques to express these benefits in monetary terms. In other words, the value of improved health to the individual, along with the reduction in health and social care costs for the NHS and other providers. Once monetised, we compared the benefits of the projects to the running costs to understand the value for money of the projects.
What we delivered
We conducted a value-for-money evaluation for both programmes, which demonstrated a strong link between spending time in nature and improved health outcomes in the Dales Fell-being and Wednesday Wanders projects. Participants reported enhanced mental - and in the case of Dales Fell-being, also physical - health, supported by quantified benefits monetised using Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY), Wellbeing-adjusted Life Years (WELLBY) and reductions in treatment costs. The programmes proved cost-effective, delivering benefits that exceeded the investment.
In Dales Fell-being, participants also gained job-related skills, with one individual training to become a run leader. Similarly, all Wednesday Wanders participants reported progress towards personal goals, including increased engagement with nature and learning about the Yorkshire Dales. Many went on to participate in Into the Woods, a 16-week collaborative project with Orbs Community Arts and Chrysalis Arts, exploring woodland in Marton Cum Grafton.
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