Open Gates Outdoors works with our third sector partners in the outdoors to allow your members to;
break down the barriers preventing them from enjoying the benefits of being in the outdoors,
enjoy guided wellbeing walks in Sheffield's so called "beautiful frame" or in any mountainous region in the UK, focusing on social history, geology, and flora and fauna, and
benefit from fun team games and forest school activities that develop soft skills of your members including co-operation, understanding and communication.
In 2024 Open Gates Outdoors collaborated with Darnall Well Being, Sheffield in its successful bid for a Green Social Prescribing Grant from South Yorkshire Community Foundation funding 8 walks in the Peak District and is currently delivering these walks for the benefit of the Darnall community.
Being in the outdoors brings physical wellbeing through exercise and also mental wellbeing through gaining a greater sense of place. We passionately believe it is a matter of social justice that everyone has the opportunity to acquire the cultural capital that comes with experiencing the outdoors. Open Gates Outdoors aims to achieve its principal aim of widening participation in the outdoors by making a contribution from all payments received from corporate and individual partners towards the cost of it providing its services to third sector partners for free. It is our aim that our services can be provided to our third sector partners for free. Open Gates is qualified by Mountain Training to lead walks in any of the mountainous areas of the UK.
What our partners say...
"George is a great team leader and kept the young people engaged and interested throughout the walk. It was lovely to see people enjoy the viewsof the Peaks and given this opportunity that they had not had before.”
Cynthia, Occupational Therapist, Roundabout.
"George was very engaging with everyone on the walk. He really explained everything and made the walk interesting.”
Abbie, Occupational Therapist, Roundabout
Rural exploring
We are qualified to lead walks in any mountainous areas of the UK.
Explore the so called "beautiful frame" of Sheffield, including the Peak District National Park. Sheffield is the only City in the UK to incorporate part of a National Park and this provides a unique resource. Open Gates Outdoors’ qualified guides can guide you round established challenging routes in the Peak District such as the Edale Skyline or the Derwent Watershed
Dark Peak areas close to Sheffield such as Burbage, Froggatt and Stanage can be explored in depth with Open Gates Outdoors together with the more rugged and challenging terrains of Dark Peak areas further afield such as Kinder Scout, Derwent Edge and Bleaklow.
We also provide experiences of the more gentle White Peak in locations such as Dovedale and Lathkill Dale. Find ancient carvings, caves with mysterious pasts, and ruins that you wish could speak! Walks will be of a length and terrain best suited to you and we will work with you to ascertain this before embarking on your adventure.
Urban exploring
Explore urban areas in Sheffield such as the City Centre, Neepsend and the Don Valley. Rummage in Sheffield General Cemetery and learn about the catacombs and the famous and infamous of Victorian Sheffield interred there. Acquaint yourself with the several parks in Sheffield curated in the 1830's by nationally renowned landscape architect Robert Marnock such as High Hazels Park, Botanical Gardens, and Weston Park. These urban landscapes provide a rich source of understanding the unique heritage and culture of Sheffield.
Edgelands exploring
Explore areas on the edge of Sheffield such as Wincobank Hill, the site of a crucial iron age and roman fort located on the nationally significant "roman ridge".
Discover Meersbrook and Gleadless woods, the site of the critical ancient boundaries between Mercia and Northumbria, then later formed part of the boundary of Hallamshire before separating Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Delve into Moss Valley, a frontier in the Jacobean uprising of 1745.
Explore Parkwood Springs, the site of the now defunct Sheffield Ski Village which until the 1970s was a bustling vibrant residential community and has now been re-wilded but still contains tantalising traces of its former life. Trace the industrial landscapes of the Porter, Rivelin and Loxley valleys to learn about the geographical phonomena that made Sheffield perfect for the development of early steel industries in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Themed walks
Let Open Gates Outdoors take you on a walk which develops a theme. Themes could be following in the footsteps of the Sheffield Clarion Ramblers, the original Sheffield rambling club established in 1900 by the legendary GHB Ward, the pioneer of pedestrian rights of way in the early 20th century. Visit the homes of, and countryside that inspired, not only GHB Ward but also Edward Carpenter, the revolutionary socialist thinker, activist and writer, and member of the Arts and Craft movement. Let us take you on a walk on the theme of protest, for example the Mass Kinder Trespass of 1932, or disaster, for example the Great Sheffield Flood of 1864 (the worst civilian peacetime disaster in Britain).
Outdoor activities to improve soft skills of your members
Open Gates Outdoors’ qualified and experienced practitioners will work with our third sector partners to develop and deliver a programme of outdoor activities that develops skills in their members.
We can provide:
Fun and impactful team games led by a practitioner and publisher with over 40 years experience working in many different countries with community groups, charities and businesses, and/or
activities based on forest school principles such as foraging, shelter building, or wild cooking led by a qualified Forest School practitioner
These activities will enhance soft skills of your members such as understanding, teamwork, communication, trust, and problem-solving skills.
Open Gates Outdoors’ prices for Third sector partners
1/2 day - £180 per group
1 day - £300 per group
2 days - £500 per group
These prices are for groups up to 15 people. Prices are negotiable on a case by case basis. It is our intention to be able to cover your costs by using funds received from business or individual partners or by working with you to apply for grant funding.