So, how do you make the Lake District 'change and diversify' because it is too heavily weighted toward 'white middle-class able-bodied people'?

[Nanny0gg]

Richard Leafe, the Cumbria park's chief executive, said the Unesco World Heritage site must change to merit continued public funding.

I mean, it's mountains and lakes. What can you do?

And isn't that a tad patronising as well?

@GreytExpectations I understand that people might want to blend in but I'm not sure what can be done about it. Most people with any business sense will make their customers feel welcome regardless of who they are.

t is accessible if you can get in a car or buy a train ticket. Some people can't do that (or don't want to) but does that become someone else's responsibility? There are lots of places I'd like to go to but can't because of lack of money/opportunity.

Train ticket is £107 return from midlands to Carlisle

I can get a return flight to Europe for the same money and cheaper accommodation

When you walk into a pub that is all white and you are not and that short period you can feel everyone's eyes on you, it feels shit.

To be fair we went into a pub at the bottom of the Hard Knott Pass in Yorkshire and that is exactly what happened. And as well as being white I'm also a northerner. Bizarre

bathsheba - I’m a lightweight camper and it’s a constant beef with the C&CClub that the tent pitches are miles from the lav. I certainly don’t look forward to a long hike to the facilities! At one site I pointed this out and they offered me to pitch my tent on the grass beside the lav block which was equally unacceptable! They don’t seem to want tents any more, just massive caravans and motorhomes that stop for a week at a time.

I don't know how to approach this.
There are many rural areas almost exclusively white where as a stranger you can go into a pub,it goes quiet and everyone looks at you because you 'dont belong'.
This is regardless off colour/culture.
Many customers in these pubs are not middle class,most are men.
That's not saying it isn't an issue for BAME people but in many rural areas there isn't the diversity and expecting it is expecting other to make the first move.If you want to change it you have to be part of it.
Just encouraging diversity of visitors doesn't change to areas real diversity so many people still feel excluded.

I can get a return flight to Europe for the same money and cheaper accommodation I'm sure you can and some people might prefer to do that. People will spend their time and money as they want and some that will be going somewhere other than the Lakes

The point I'm trying to make is I'm not quite sure who's job it is to make the Lakes (or anywhere else) more accessible. Individual businesses can do their bit but they can't do much more than that.

Who is Richard Leafe and does his mother know that he is out and about spouting shite?

That's not saying it isn't an issue for BAME people but in many rural areas there isn't the diversity and expecting it is expecting other to make the first move.If you want to change it you have to be part of it.

Isn’t that what this initiative is about? Encouraging this change?

@lakeswimmer @paulinespeaksmanylanguages Richard Leafe is the Chief Executive of the Lake District National Park, so I suspect it's his job to make the lakes more accessible..

we went into a pub at the bottom of the Hard Knott Pass in Yorkshire

Er.... Hardknott Pass isn't in Yorkshire!

“To be fair we went into a pub at the bottom of the Hard Knott Pass in Yorkshire and that is exactly what happened. And as well as being white I'm also a northerner”

To be fair, white Northerners are rarely subjected to hate crime / violence / discrimination on the basis of being white / Northern, so the ‘moment’, whilst being disconcerting, doesn’t have the same currency.

I agree: particular local communities can be insular. I grew up in rural Norfolk, got the T Shirt.

Hardknott Pass isn't in Yorkshire!

It is in the Lakes. Don’t think there is a pub at the bottom?

Isn’t that what this initiative is about? Encouraging this change?

How can you change the ethnicity of an area though? You can't force people to go an live in other places if they don't want to...

To be fair we went into a pub at the bottom of the Hard Knott Pass in Yorkshire and that is exactly what happened. And as well as being white I'm also a northerner

Nope, not the same thing nor is it related. Don't belittle the racisim BAME people face by jumping to your whataboutery

This is not the Lakes - but an interesting survey from the North York Moors on visitors

www.northyorkmoorstourism.com/uploads/4/8/5/6/4856328/nym_visitor_survey_2016_report_final.pdf

Even though many people were on day trips and were from Yorkshire and the Humber, only 1% were from a BAME background.

The survey didn't try and identify any other demographics.
It was interesting that 92% of people came by car to the Moors.

I wonder if people have done surveys asking communities if there were reasons why they didn't want to go to the National Parks?

Easy to find out who is going. Less easy to find out who isn't going and what kind of things stop them going.

Fire the idiot who suggested this. There, just saved them some money.

Plenty can be done to better support people with less wealth, non-drivers, and those with disabilities. When I went to the Lake District 15 years ago public transport was piss poor, way behind what Snowdonia was doing at the same time. It looks like the Lakes have improved things since then but I'm sure there's room for further improvements.

I'm not sure much can be done about ethnicity of visitors, beyond taking a strong stance against racism from locals.

Easy to find out who is going. Less easy to find out who isn't going and what kind of things stop them going.

There have been a couple of links upthead to articles about it being unusual in some cultures to go for day trips to the countryside - that may well be changing though. I've seen plenty of Asian family groups picnicing in the Lakes

Not all of Britain is anything other than white. Where we live in the north-east I rarely meet anyone who is not white. DH's secondary school is 99.something % white. DS's primary school has one Asian little boy and a Syrian boy. We are, however, all ignored by the government and have been for decades- every government thinks the country ends at Potter's Bar. By the time you reach Newcastle the government are unsure whether it is England or Scotland. No one speaks up for us or our rights. Of course, Boris has promised us the earth now some people have voted for him. I somehow doubt it will happen.
Just watch when Question Time comes from the north-east - they can never get anyone important to appear because none of the cabinet or shadow cabinet will travel that far up country.

I’ll begin with a disclaimer- I don’t live in the Lake District but have been there. It’s absolutely beautiful. It was about 15 years ago, and I have to say it seemed in danger of being loved to death then!
I’m prepared to be corrected on any of my following points.
I totally agree that making the area more diverse and accessible to disabled people would be great. I’m sure there are things that could be done to make walking around the lakes and swimming easier for all. Not sure how you make the hill walking more accessible except roads etc. This surely would detract from the very reason so many love to hillwalk there.
A diverse population would be great too. I am again unsure how this would be achieved.

I'm not suggesting that all sorts of people shouldn't be encouraged to enjoy the british countryside, but equally we are all allowed to like different things?

DSs school motto translates as "look beyond the mountains" which is about them not focusing on what is on their horizon so if it's about doing similar for innercity people (but the opposite in a way) then of course we should be encouraging people to broaden their horizons, i'm not sure if that is just about getting more people into the lake district. Maybe a version of DofE that isn't so difficult for DC to access (and doesn't put them off) to give people more confidence about accessing the countryside even if it's just in their own locality.

Anecdotal views from high profile commentators here

That link is 15 years out of date.

Are large numbers of BAME people actually saying that they'd like to visit the Lake District but feel they would not be welcome? Or has this Richard Leafe person decided to speak on their behalf and tick some 'diversity' boxes in the process?

I’m puzzled by this thread. We’ve stayed in the Lake District numerous times. Sometimes doing a week without public transport (train, buses and ferries were fine- we walked a lot as well). We also stayed over Christmas one year and there were a large number of ethnic minority families- far more than the area in which we live, all enjoying a holiday.

99% of Northumberland is white. What are we expected to do - force 50% of them out of their county and fill it with non whites?

”Anecdotal views from high profile commentators here“

”That link is 15 years out of date.”

Yes, but the stats show nothing has changed.