What a year! 2023 was a year of getting back to a new normal. Here are a few of the highlights from our annual report for 2022/23.
Overnight stays
817,220 people stayed overnight in a YHA property, including 265,207 young people.
We supported stays for 8,382 young people with challenging lives.
Outdoor Citizens
Outdoor Citizens is made up of small charities, not-for-profit groups and organisations that are working to make access to the outdoors more equitable. It’s hosted and administered by YHA.
To date, Outdoor Citizens has provided funding to 84 projects across 49 organisations:
- 90% of beneficiary organisations said they can now offer more opportunities for people in their communities to be active outdoors
- 87% reported attracting more people to their activities
- 70% have upskilled people from their communities
YHA Festival of Walking
Our Festival of Walking saw a series of social walks led by BMC and YHA volunteers. We also provided self-guided maps.
We published 180 routes for circular walks from hostels. Our maps have been downloaded 21,000 times.
YHA and sustainability
In 2023 we reiterated our commitment to sustainability, celebrating a number of practical changes that have made an impact across the hostel network recently:
- 43% reduction in chemical use thanks to new technology
- 20,000 fewer plastic pots used, thanks to homemade yoghurt
- 40% reduction in emissions, thanks to hybrid working
Our single biggest contribution remains our efforts to connect people to nature and we look forward to making more progress towards promoting sustainable tourism in the years ahead.
YHA’s annual report for 2022/23 gives a comprehensive review of our activities for the year.
Photo credit: Adobe stock – Zoe
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