The Southern Uplands Partnership is delighted to announce the next stage in the organisation’s 22-year history with the appointment of Richard Clarke as its South West Scotland Coastal Trail Development Officer. The role is working in partnership with the People’s Project and Dumfries & Galloway Council to propel forward the idea for a continuous coastal trail along the Solway.
Richard has worked for many years as a Countryside Ranger for both the National Trust for Scotland and Buccleuch Estates. Leading educational programs, surveying a vast array of flora and fauna, working with community and local groups and overall ensuring that the outdoors is accessible for all.
The People’s Project was set up in 2008 by Mark Jardine who wanted to rekindle the meaning of community in Dumfries and Galloway. Over the past fourteen years, there has been many achievements that the People’s Project has been the striving force in, and this project will again showcase what the region has to offer.
Dumfries & Galloway Council will be instrumental to this project, providing countryside and access knowledge and experience whilst utilising the vast range of Core Paths the region has to offer.
The Southern Uplands Partnership is a rural development charity, started by local people keen to keep the communities and countryside of the south of Scotland alive and healthy. The Partnership represents all sorts of people, as well as government bodies, agencies and Councils. Since 1999, the Partnership has initiated over 60 significant socially and environmentally sustainable projects and secured and invested well-over £4m of project funding, including the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project, UNESCO Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere, South West Scotland Environmental Information Centre (SWSEIC) and Ride Scottish Borders.
Richard said, “I am looking forward to leading this project enabling people to discover and enjoy the beauty of the Solway coast. By linking together existing path networks to create one continuous trail from Gretna to Ayrshire. Uncovering Solway’s secrets and working alongside communities, stakeholders, the People’s Project and Dumfries & Galloway Council in helping to deliver this project”.
For more information on the progress of this project and the other work of the Southern Uplands Partnership and to find out how you can get involved please visit www.facebook.com/southernuplandspartnership or www.sup.org.uk
If you live, work or visit the south of Scotland and want to be part of its future success you can sign up as a member of the Southern Uplands Partnership. It’s free and easy to do and every membership is so important as it helps the organisation show decision makers and funders the level of community support. To do so simply sign up for the SUP e-newsletter at www.sup.org.uk/membership
