European Year of Volunteering is a celebration of the commitment from millions of people across Europe who work during their free time without being paid.


They come from all walks of life and offer their time in a whole host of ways, including working in schools, hospitals and sports clubs, protecting the environment, providing social services and helping people in other countries. These efforts, and those of the


many thousands of volunteering organisations, make a huge difference to all our lives in countless ways. Scotland would certainly be much the poorer without volunteers – and so would our nature and landscapes! And volunteering provides more


than just public benefits. It can also benefit the individual in various ways – whether that’s through learning new skills or by keeping active physically and mentally. It can be fun and sociable too, as well as helping to build stronger communities. It’s estimated that there are currently


at least 35,000 people who regularly volunteer in Scotland across a wide range of environmental projects and activities. As part of the European celebration, we’ll be exploring different aspects of volunteering in Scotland, starting here with how environmental volunteering can benefit your community. Here are some examples across a range of community focused volunteering, which we hope might inspire you to get involved.


Path builders


Community path volunteers across Scotland are working hard to create places close to home for people to have fun, get healthy, travel more sustainably and be closer to nature. With big funding cuts ahead, the need for path groups to take local action has never been greater. The Paths for All organisation received a flood of


enquiries recently for their ‘Local People: Local Paths – Small Grants for Groups’ programme. Supported by SNH, this small pilot grants scheme offered up to £1,000 to help establish a local path group, expand what existing groups are doing or carry out a small project. Over 70 groups applied for funding to purchase


insurance or basic tools, get trained up, buy materials to improve paths, produce local path leaflets or carry out repairs. Sadly, demand massively outstripped supply and it wasn’t possible to support every group. Some great ideas came forward. For example, Boghead Community Group in South Lanarkshire want to develop and maintain paths around their community and link Boghead, Blackwood, Kirkmuirhill and Lesmahagow. The group recently bought the local red phone box and will be transforming it into an information point for the local path networks. “The grant will pay for some remedial work on the


phone box and help to open up unusable paths choked with vegetation,” explained Fiona McInally of Paths for All. “However, that’s just the start. The group have big plans to make local paths more accessible and usable all year round, which will mean a better quality of life for people who live there!” If you’re keen to make a difference to your local paths,


but can’t find out what’s happening locally, contact info@ pathsforall.org.uk for help. Paths for All is the national charity supporting and promoting path networks and walking for health. You can find out more at www.pathsforall.org.uk


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The Nature of Scotland


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