Freshwalks, the outdoor networking and workplace wellbeing business, has announced a collaboration with Huddersfield-based Tink Adventures to offer a regular programme of walks for the West Yorkshire business community, building on its success in other regions.
The first will take place on Friday 18 June and is a 17km hike around Malham Tarn and Malham Cove, near Skipton. This will be followed, on 23 July, by a 13km walk beginning in Haworth, which will take in the Brontë waterfalls, Lower Laith Reservoir and a section of the Pennine Way.
The third Yorkshire route in Freshwalks’ summer calendar will take place on 20 August at Harewood House and its surrounding estate as well as taking in part of the Leeds Country Way and the banks of the River Wharfe.
Freshwalks was founded in 2014 by Michael Di Paola and was initially focused around the north west business community. Freshwalks has now run almost 300 events and welcomed nearly 4,000 walkers across the UK. It attracts attendees from all sectors and at all levels of seniority within their organisations, and many businesses partner with Freshwalks as part of their wider employee engagement, wellbeing or client relationship strategies.
The Freshwalks format naturally lends itself to socially distanced interaction and its events are run in strict compliance with prevailing coronavirus regulations. Further information and tickets are available via the Freshwalks website or from the Eventbrite booking platform.
The Yorkshire walks will be led by Emily Thompson, co-founder of Tink Adventures. Further routes will be added to the programme over the months ahead.
Michael Di Paola, founder of Freshwalks, said, “We’ve already welcomed a number of attendees from businesses in Yorkshire and the demand for our format was clear, making the region the obvious location for expansion. I know I don’t need to tell the people who live in the county about how special the landscapes and walking opportunities are – they speak for themselves. But I hope many will join us to enjoy these walks in a different context and meet like-minded businesses.”
Freshwalks has led walks in a range of locations in Lancashire, Merseyside, Cheshire, Derbyshire, South Wales and Yorkshire, as well as overnight tours to the Lake District and the Mourne Mountains, and city walks in Manchester and Liverpool. Freshwalks participants have, since its launch, already walked the equivalent of the distance around the world and are now fast approaching 100 million steps.
Mr Di Paola added, “There are a number of things that make the Freshwalks experience unique, including the level of preparation and planning that goes into each event and the thought that goes into the selection of post-walk pubs – Covid-permitting. But the biggest thing that makes us special is the way participants interact with each-other.
“We have developed a strong community of like-minded people who help and support each other both out on the hills and, wherever possible, in business. We also have a number of corporate partners who provide spaces on our walks to their employees to support wellbeing and development.
“I look forward to extending this experience to the business community in West Yorkshire, and to bringing them together with their peers from all regions of the North, creating the conditions for new collaborations while discovering more of the fantastic countryside that we are all lucky enough to be surrounded by.”
