A new walking project aimed at getting more people in Scotland to go for a stroll has been launched by the Ramblers. The innovative initiative is called Medal Routes, and sees three graded routes of between 15 and 60 minutes being highlighted in communities across the country. The Medal Routes project is based on the setting up of a “walking hub”. From this hub, the three routes are marked out. A gold route takes around one hour to walk; the silver route takes half the time; and the bronze route takes 15 minutes. The routes are not meant to vary in difficulty but rather in duration and length. The walks also aim to take in points of interest along the way, as well as wildlife highlights. Many of the paths will already be known to locals, but these routes are detailed to give a focused walk for the given length of time. So far walking hubs have been established at: Scottish Exhibition Conference Centre (SECC), Glasgow Stirling University, Stirling Dalgety Bay Sports and Leisure Centre Carnegie Library, Dunfermline Raploch Community Campus, Stirling Each of these downloads comes with three route descriptions and maps, as well as a tick list that enables walkers to keep track of their walking. The aim, as recommended by health experts, is to walk for at least 30 minutes five times a week.

Supporting the new walks project

[caption id="attachment_5684" align="alignleft" width="251"] Medal Routes walking project[/caption] The Ramblers Scotland project, which launches this month, is funded by Paths for All and Scottish Natural Heritage. The goal is to help Scotland to create a physical activity legacy from the 2012 Olympic and 2014 Commonwealth Games. It’s hoped that 50 Medal Routes will be established over the coming year.

Help needed to set up walking hubs and routes

Ramblers Scotland is appealing for local people and groups to set up new hubs and routes. Potential hubs could be community centres, schools, hospitals, universities, community sports hubs, hostels and hotels, or centres of employment. If you would like to become a Medal Route design volunteer, you can get in touch with Ramblers Scotland. Call the Ramblers Scotland office on 01577 861222 or by email on Jacqueline.ferguson@ramblers.org.uk Do you think the Medal Routes for walkers are a good idea?