Hello

Welcome to the Community Paths Newsletter.

In this month's edition, we reveal our Walking Champions from the 2019 Volunteer Awards, share the latest training and grants news, and introduce you to the newest member of the Active Environments team.

We crown our Walking Champions at this year's Volunteer Awards

Last week, we were honoured to be joined at the Scottish Parliament by volunteers from across the country who had been nominated for our Volunteers Awards.

Read more about some of the people who won awards in the Active Environments category including Gillian Craig - Community Path Volunteer of the Year, and Getting Better Together - Path Skillz Group of the Year.

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Community Active Travel Grants

We’ve been extremely impressed by the fantastic range of projects that have applied to our Community Active Travel Grants programme.

These grants make it easier for people to walk and cycle when making short, everyday journeys such as to shops, school, work or to connect to public transport links.

You can use our funding to:

• Promote and signpost active travel routes;
• Improve and develop routes that will make it easier to walk and cycle when making short, everyday journeys;
• Maintain active travel routes and ensure they are accessible.

Projects such as Arbroath’s Active Travel Website which promotes active travel routes around Arbroath and South Seeds Active Travel Times are some on many fantastic examples of what can be achieved with this grant.

We are still accepting applications to our Community Active Travel Grants scheme. For more information, visit our website or email the team.

Hello from Tom

Hi, I’m Tom, the new Active Environments Development Officer at Paths for All. I’m delighted to be here and I am looking forward to working on our Path Skillz project.

I’ve taken a very circuitous route in my journey here. I was a field archaeologist working on exciting sites across Scotland such as in Orkney and at Stirling Castle. In 2009 I decided to pursue a career in youth and community work and spent six years running the Duke of Edinburgh Award for Falkirk Council; three years working across Scotland at ‘Fixers’, a charity that helped young people to use their lived experience to campaign on issues they were passionate about; and just under a year back at Falkirk Council helping communities to keep their community halls open and available to all. I’m delighted to be here and I am looking forward to working on our Path Skillz project.

Path Skillz

Our new Development Officer Tom will be leading on Path Skillz, our exciting five-day learning experience which aims to equip young people with the knowledge and practical skills they need to successfully plan, manage and deliver a community path project. We have the capacity to run four courses before March 2020 and are looking for groups of young people throughout Scotland who might want to get involved. To run a Path Skillz course, we would need a group of eight or so interested young people and an area where they can upgrade a path in their local community. Path Skillz is for 15-25 year olds. To find out more please email Tom or call him on 07778 127628.

Root and Branch Woodland Group

Richard and Tom were delighted to spend two days in Dundee recently delivering training to the enthusiastic Root and Branch Woodland Group.

Supported by Dundee City Council's Community Learning and Development team, the group have already played a massive role in looking after the Middleton Woods site on the outskirts of Fintry.

They requested a training course so they could enhance their skills which will help them to continue to look after the Middleton Woods path network to a high standard.

During the course they learnt about the benefits of walking and why it’s important to have a path network that’s welcoming and fit for purpose. They then tried out different placemaking tools to show people what they liked and disliked about Middleton Woods.

On the second day of the course, the group worked outside where they got experience of carrying out a range of path maintenance skills. Well done to everyone involved.

Training

We will soon be running two path maintenance training courses, one of which will be hosted by Friends of Craiglockhart of Edinburgh in late October and the other will be hosted by Aboyne Paths Group from Aberdeenshire on 5th October.

In this course you can learn about the tools needed to get the job done, how to organise volunteer days and get hands-on experience of upgrading a path.

You will learn how to:

·       Safely use hand and small power tools
·       Repair and build paths
·       Organise volunteer work days

For more details or to book a place on either course, email the Active Environments team or call 01259 218888.

About Us

Our Active Environments team - John, Richard, Graeme and Tom - are here to help you create, promote and maintain path networks throughout Scotland. These vital community assets enable people to engage in walking and active travel.

You are receiving this newsletter because you have signed up to or taken part in our events, training, services or grant schemes in the past. You can unsubscribe at anytime by clicking the link at the bottom of this email.

Our Community Paths work is supported by Scottish Natural Heritage, Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government.

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