Volunteers gain funding to restore scenic park

A passionate group of volunteers in Edinburgh have substantially upgraded a park’s path network, thanks to Scotland’s walking charity.

Friends of Seven Acre Park were awarded £1500 by Paths for All to enable more people in the community to use the park and become more physically active. 

Seven Acre Park in Alnwickhill offers spectacular views out towards Fife, and you can see many of Edinburgh’s famous landmarks such as Blackford Observatory, Arthurs Seat and Edinburgh Castle.

Supported by the Scottish Government, the group used the money to upgrade previously unusable paths in Seven Acre Park.

Due to walkways being uneven, the existing paths were muddy and waterlogged making them unattractive to visitors and difficult for anyone with a wheelchair or buggy. 

The project aimed to attract more of the community and visitors to the park, after complaints about the state of the paths.

Friends of Seven Acre Park committee member Ronnie Shaw said: “The original path was such an inconvenience to park users that they were walking on grass verges to avoid it. 

“We looked for more funding and were so glad to receive the grant from Paths for all. I am a daily user of the park so personally experience the impact the grant has had and we’ve received great comments from other users.”

The project, which initially proposed upgrading 100m of pathways, was completed in October and received further funding from Edinburgh City Council meaning an extra 90m could be restored. 

The enthusiastic volunteers from Friends of Seven Acres Park hoped to encourage local companies to provide volunteers as part of their healthy working policies.

There were 16 volunteers for the project in total, and whilst led by volunteers from Friends of Seven Acre Park, Jacobs Engineering also lent a helping hand with a corporate volunteering day. 

Ronnie continued: “We had a group of six employees from Jacobs and they thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the fresh air, it was a great day.”

The project was carried out over a two-month period and also enlisted the help of a small contractor.

Ian Findlay CBE, Chief Officer at Paths for All, said: “It’s inspiring to see groups like Friends of Seven Acre Park devoting their time to carry out these vital path upgrades which will bring significant wider benefits to their local areas. 

“Having safe and clear public spaces is so important when it comes to keeping us active and connecting with nature and our community.

“Improved paths really build on community spirit as they’re more frequently used by commuters, dog walkers, joggers, children playing and people enjoying the simple but very important pleasure of just going for a walk.

“Thanks to the dedication of these passionate volunteers, our vision of encouraging everyone in Scotland to walk every day and everywhere is becoming a reality.

“We’re excited to see the difference that this work will bring to towns and cities across the country and know that a great number of communities will benefit.”

Paths for All has awarded £72,560 worth of grants to 44 groups like this across Scotland as part of the Know Your Routes campaign.

From the Isle of Skye to the Scottish Borders, over 700 volunteers will be helping to transform neglected parts of their local path networks and their work is expected to be finished by April.

The money will be used for wide-ranging work including clearing debris, structural improvements, installing signage and lighting, hiring tools or contractors, promoting routes and improving biodiversity along path networks to encourage every day walking and put ‘no-go’ areas back into the hands of the community.

This year’s grant schemes have been funded by Scottish Natural Heritage, Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government.

The estimated figure for the community groups’ volunteer in-kind contribution is calculated to be over £271,000.

Paths for All works with Scottish Government and 30 partners to support and deliver national policies, such as the National Walking Strategy and other ‘active travel’ initiatives.

The Scottish charity awards thousands of pounds worth of grants to worthwhile projects that improve health, promote walking and improve environments for people to be active in.