Get on the path to improving Clyde Walkway Community Links

Volunteer to help maintain vital routes to one of Scotland's Great Trails

Volunteers are being sought to help maintain Clyde Walkway Community Links routes every second Wednesday with Clydesdale Community Initiatives (CCI), this coming summer.

The vital work will help keep five Clyde Walkway Community Links paths safe and accessible for all to use, working to a plan prepared by CCI. Enabling people to play an active role in surveying and maintaining local paths, tasks will include vegetation clearance and litter picking.

Enthusiasm for looking after local paths is all that is required – no previous experience is necessary and all tools and hot drinks will be provided. Volunteers are only asked to bring a packed lunch, waterproofs, and lots of energy and enthusiasm. The ground is likely to be wet and uneven so wellies or sturdy boots are essential.

Volunteering opportunities take place every second Wednesday starting 31 May, with an exception in mid June. The sessions will take place 10:30am – 2pm on the following days:

Wednesday 31 May: Larkhall - Clyde Walkway

Tuesday 27 & Wednesday 28 June: Crossford – Stonebyres - Nemphlar - Kirkfieldbank

Wednesday 5 July: Rosebank Circular

Wednesday 19 July: Nemphlar Moor Road - Braidwood

Wednesday 16 August: Law - Maudslie Estate

Path surveyors will be supported by CCI, with additional support available through the South Lanarkshire Council Adopt-A-Path scheme. This includes use of a handbook that covers all the basics someone needs to get started as a volunteer path surveyor, and additional training, where required, including surveying paths, assessing risks, small-scale path maintenance and basic tool use.

Volunteering is focussed on five beautiful and historic Clyde Walkway Community Links routes that were upgraded in 2016 as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund supported Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership (CAVLP), in partnership with sportscotland, Central Scotland Green Network Trust, Clydesdale Community Initiatives and South Lanarkshire Council.

Much loved and used by local people, the routes, taking in Crossford, Dalserf, Kirkfieldbank, Larkhall, Law, Nemphlar and Rosebank, have been used since ancient times. Traditionally, they were practical routes linking communities with places of work like jam factories, glasshouses and market gardens, mines, Estates, and brick and tile works.

Nowadays, they continue to provide leisure access to locals and visitors alike to the stunning and nationally important Clyde Valley National Nature Reserve (NNR), as well as the unique and varied landscape of the area. Points of interest include Stonebyres Falls, the Lee Valley, garden centres, and designed landscapes at Mauldslie, Dalserf and Crossford. Explore them online as digital trails by clicking the links below, or clicking 'Explore' in the menu above.

Donna Marshall, CAVLP Manager says, “If you’re passionate about your local area and take pride in showing off what beautiful countryside is on your doorstep, this is an opportunity for you. You will be undertaking a vital role in stewardship and care for the routes which provide locals and visitors alike with access to the stunning local landscape and the Clyde Walkway – one of Scotland’s Great Trails.”

The Clyde Walkway Community Links volunteering programme is part of a wider programme of volunteering supported by Heritage Lottery Fund and South Lanarkshire LEADER supported Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership (CAVLP), which provides maintenance and access assistance to sites including Mauldslie Woodlands, Castlebank Park, Stonehouse Park, Chatelherault Country Park, Jock’s Burn and Lesmahagow Allotments. LEADER is part of the Scottish Rural Development Programme and is co-funded by the European Union to support eligible projects in rural areas. Click here or explore the items below for full listings.

And it’s not just the community that benefits. Helen Thomson, Clydesdale Community Initiatives explains, “We are hoping that a lot of people sign up to help on the Community Links volunteering sessions. As well as being of huge benefit to the local community, volunteering has been proven to have a huge impact on participants’ physical and mental well-being and this is key to our work at CCI. Volunteering has been proven to reduce stress and release endorphins, with 95% of individuals reporting to feel good after volunteering. Regular volunteers are 10 times more likely to be in good health than people who don’t volunteer, and 58% of volunteers say that their contribution helps them sleep better.”

To sign up to volunteer with CCI on the Clyde Walkway Community Links project benefitting local communities and yourself, please contact CCI on 01555 664 211 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Explore the Clyde Walkway Community Links routes on the links below.