After 27 Years of working with Groundwork, a reflection

Looking back over my time a lot have changed over the quarter of a century I have been here – in general the importance of the environment and community involvement is better understood and there is a consensus about this that didn’t exist when I joined Groundwork. It’s certainly easier explaining what we do and why its important than it ever used to be! There still seems to be a disappointing lack of investment from “the powers that be” but the lack is no longer due to an absence of understanding or need.

Somethings are still changing – West Yorkshire still would like a tram/light transport system like Sheffield or Manchester – Hull remains a surprisingly beautiful and historic City with major social and economic challenges that make it somewhere we should strive to be active in. Many things have changed – for a non-Leeds resident central Leeds has changed almost beyond recognition, my home town Keighley (and Bradford district in general) less so…Wakefield is somewhere in-between and the physical beauty of much of our region is more celebrated but this often masks the economic and social deprivation that exists within it.

The people who work for Groundwork are in many ways what attracted me and made me stay all those years ago….there’s a few of us still around from what was the early days of our surprisingly long Groundwork journey but there has been literally 100s of people who have joined us and left over the years that I am pleased to have spent time with as we collectively sought to deliver our mission of “Changing Places and Changing Lives” – you all do and I have been proud to be part of our collective endeavour.

Adrian Curtis

Executive Director, Yorkshire