Nurjahan Ali Arobi receiving award from YDS Vice President Ann Cryer

The 2010 Ken Willson award was presented in Kettlewell on Saturday (10th July) to Nurjahan Ali Arobi by the Yorkshire Dales Society.

The annual award, which was created in 2005, is designed to commemorate the life and work of Ken Willson (1914-2003), a lifelong campaigner for the Yorkshire Dales, the First President of the Yorkshire Dales Society and a Chairman of Craven CPRE.

The Award is presented to a young person under 30 years of age who must live or work either within the Yorkshire Dales National Park or Nidderdale AONB, or in an adjacent community, and have made an important contribution to protecting, sustaining or enhancing the unique Yorkshire dales landscape, natural history or cultural heritage.

Bradford born and bred with Bangladeshi parentage, Nurjahan Ali Arobi from Shipley is this year’s outright winner of the award.

Nurjahan, aged 36, was nominated by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority for her involvement in the Dales over the past six years in her role as the Walking for Health coordinator for the NHS. The nomination explained that since her initial involvement through her job, Nurjahan has subsequently become increasingly committed as a volunteer to getting more people from black and Asian minority ethnic (BAME) groups to visit the National Park. She is now a Community Champion for the YDNPA as part of the Mosaic project, a national campaign which aims to build sustainable links between black and minority ethnic communities and the National Parks.

A spokesman from the YDNPA said “Nurjahan has an infectious enthusiasm for the Yorkshire Dales and as an accomplished public speaker she has spoken on behalf of her local community, the National Park Authority and for the Council for National Parks to many different groups ranging from YDNPA staff to government ministers and the media. Everyone who hears her speak praises her warmth and ability to put forward her message about the Dales and its links with neighbouring communities concisely and clearly.

In organising visits to the National Park by BAME groups, offering support and advice to YDNPA staff on communicating with BAME groups in encouraging visitors from those groups, Nurjahan is invaluable to the outreach work of both the YDNPA and, in turn, the Yorkshire Dales Society.”

Nurjahan was presented with her award at the Yorkshire Dales Society AGM which was held at The Racehorses Hotel in Kettlewell. By coincidence, the multi-cultural spirit she encapsulated was reflected in a music event hosted by the Society at Buckden the following day, which featured locals Rosie and Tim Boothman playing local Dales dances and songs alongside traditional South Asian music from West Yorkshire musicians.