Get Out More is inviting people to connect with nature on their doorstep and improve wellbeing, with new free guides to 20 nature sites within easy reach of Shipley town centre and Bradford city centre. These new Breathing Spaces booklets, funded by BUPA UK Foundation, aim to encourage people to visit local green spaces to connect with nature and improve physical and mental health.  They supplement the Keighley Breathing Spaces booklet, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund in 2018.

The Breathing Spaces booklets feature some well known beauty spots and also some hidden gems in and around Bradford, Shipley and Keighley that can easily be accessed on foot and where people can get a dose of nature to help them improve their wellbeing. As well as a map and instructions on how to access the sites, there are ideas to prompt a deeper connection with nature through slowing down, focusing and using the senses.

We will be launching the new booklets during the autumn with a series of guided walks, but if you can’t wait, you can download them by clicking on images below:

Bradford Breathing Spaces

Shipley Breathing Spaces

Keighley Breathing Spaces

Managing Director Annie Berrington says “When we connect to nature, we feel better; our blood pressure lowers, stress hormones reduce and immunity and mood are boosted. Regular gentle exercise in nature not only helps us improve our physical fitness, but it helps us feel better inside too. The idea of the Breathing Spaces booklet is to encourage people to take time out to enjoy nature on their doorstep. People may have discovered more nature locally during lockdown, but they might be surprised by how many pockets of nature exist in urban Bradford, Shipley and Keighley: I’ve come across foxes at Undercliffe Cemetry, deer on the Shipley Glen tram path and have spotted kingfishers darting along the river Worth in Keighley. Whether you have a free day, afternoon, or just a lunchbreak, there is plenty to discover”

The Breathing Spaces mentioned in the Bradford booklet are; City Park, Bradford Beck and Cathedral Gardens, Undercliffe Cemetery, Lister Park, Heaton Woods, Chellow Dean, Horton Bank Country Park, SHINE St Stephen’s churchyard, Judy Woods and Bowling Park.

In Shipley, the Breathing Spaces mentioned are; Shipley Central Park, Northcliffe Woods, Roberts Park, Shipley Glen, Hirst Wood, Hirst Wood Nature Reserve, Leeds Liverpool Canal, Milner Fields, Baildon Moor and Denso Marston Nature Reserve.

The Breathing Spaces in the Keighley booklet (funded by The Big Lottery) are; Park Wood, Devonshire Park, the River Worth railway path near Dalton Mill, Cliffe Castle park, River Worth path, East Riddlesden Hall, River Aire, Leeds Liverpool Canal and Low Wood.

The booklets will be available from sites across Bradford, Shipley and Keighley including railway stations, pharmacies, GP surgeries and food outlets.