Yorkshire News

  • Adrian’s Podcast

  • Navigating the School Holidays: Managing the Cost of Summer for Yorkshire Families

    The summer holidays should be a time for making memories. But for many parents across Yorkshire, the six-week break brings an underlying anxiety: how to cover the soaring cost of childcare, extra groceries, and activities without falling into financial distress. Recent data shows that families across the UK spend an average of £1,200 more during…

  • The Reality Behind Employability Programmes

    By Amanda Scrimgeour – Programme Manager The Lifelong Learning Team recently secured funding from Croda to deliver employability programmes for unemployed adults in Goole and Selby, combining practical environmental work with accredited training and pathways into employment. Our first programme, delivered in Selby between March and May, saw participants working on our allotment site undertaking…

  • Reflections from an ED

    By Adrian Curtis In my 30 years at Groundwork (1996-2026) I have been privileged to have been involved in hundreds (if not thousands!) of projects and worked with many fantastic people within Groundwork and our many partners. Choosing any number of projects or programmes is always going to be both hard and unfair on all…

  • Groundwork Yorkshire Projects Shortlisted For Prestigious Design Awards

    Summary: We are thrilled to announce that two of Groundwork Yorkshire’s landscape transformations—St John’s Garden of Life and Hope in Goole and the Shipley Health and Wellbeing Centre—have been shortlisted for the 2026 Design Excellence Awards, being held this evening, Thursday 30th April. The awarding body is the prestigious Landscape Institute Yorkshire & Humber Regional…

  • Groundwork Yorkshire’s Cooperative Executive Leadership Office (CELO)

    Adrian Curtis, our long-standing Executive Director, recently announced his retirement, after 24 years at the helm of Groundwork Yorkshire. Adrian’s leadership has been transformational for Groundwork across Yorkshire, most notably as the driving force behind the successful merger of three local Trusts to create Groundwork Yorkshire in 2021. Over decades, he has been at the…

  • Energy Price Changes

    The Green Doctor service by Groundwork Yorkshire helps households facing high energy costs achieve warmer, more energy-efficient homes through free, expert advice and small physical measures. While the April 2026 price cap brings a welcome £117 average reduction, energy costs remain historically high, and our Green Doctors are on hand to provide the practical support…

  • Calculating Fun: Groundwork Yorkshire Designs the UK’s First ‘Maths Playground’

    Summary: Groundwork Yorkshire has designed the UK’s first dedicated Maths Playground in Hall Park, Horsforth, as part of the Leeds ‘City of Maths’ initiative. This project uses interactive landscape design to help children engage with mathematical concepts through physical play and outdoor discovery. What is the Leeds Maths Playground project? At Groundwork Yorkshire, we believe…

  • Water Literacy

    “Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or creep, or drip or it can crash. Be water, my…

  • The Ground Up: Groundwork Yorkshire’s Podcasts

    Introducing our new podcast series, here it is available on YouTube  It’s a great way to hear more in depth discussions about our work or the issues we deal with and how we go about them. Don’t forget to subscribe to keep up to date with the latest episodes.

  • Securing Your Safety: Why Gas Servicing is a Critical Priority in the Cost of Living Crisis

    As the days shorten and the temperatures drop, many of us turn up the central heating, relying on our gas appliances to keep our families warm. Yet, the current Cost of Living Crisis is forcing more households in fuel poverty to make dangerous cuts, often deeming annual gas appliance servicing “less essential.” This decision, driven…

  • Addressing Damp and Mould: A Proactive Approach with Green Doctor

      The photos above are from a case referred to our Green Doctor programme in July 2025.* This social housing property contained a young single mother and her four children, including a baby less than a month old. Two of the children have repeated respiratory issues, and one also has reoccurring croup, a condition that…