FORTY young people from Bradford will be stretching their muscles in a series of physical events in the Yorkshire Dales National Park next week.

Eight teams of five from various Bradford Youth Service facilities, such as Youth Cafés, and the inclusion unit, will be taking part in a Champions Challenge in association with Go Dales! – a three-year initiative funded by Sport England through the Community Investment Fund and launched last year by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.

The event, which will run from Monday (July 27) to Friday, will involve a variety of different activities including conservation work, walking, biking and rock climbing.

They will also have the chance to walk the Three Peaks of Ingleborough, Pen-y-gent and Whernside and, at the end of each day, the weary participants will be sleeping under canvas.

The challenge will start and finish in Baildon Green and the teams will travel some of the way between destinations by train, using a batch of free tickets supplied by Northern Rail.

Go Dales! aims to introduce 16 to 25-year-olds from the Keighley, Bradford, Craven and Richmond areas to the National Park and to the huge range of adventure activities it offers.

Kath Needham, who has been appointed to the Sport England-funded post of Go Dales! Project Officer, said: “The Youth Service has been doing this challenge in the Lakes, both with Outward Bound and independently, for several years.

“Go Dales! persuaded them to swap to the Dales to encourage young people to explore more of what’s on their doorstep – lowering their carbon footprint in the process.

“In addition, working in such a way with the YDNPA will give them the benefit of appreciating the special qualities of the National Park such as its landscape, as well as learning about ways to protect it.”

“The challenge gives us the chance to promote widely the Three Peaks Project, which aims to encourage charities, organisations and individuals to help in the maintenance and conservation of the network of paths crossing the area. In fact, the teams will be among the first to be able to log in online and get a newly-introduced certificate saying they have walked all three peaks.”