Pathways improved by fund

Eight community groups in the Borders have been able to carry out important improvements to local walking routes thanks to a special £30,000 Covid-19 Footpath Repair Fund created by the Fallago Environment Fund.
Karen Briggs from Ancrum Community Council and local resident Rosie Hunt are pictured with their dogs at the new Witch Burn Bridge, which has been constructed thanks to a grant from the Fallago Environment Fund. Photo: Ancrum Community Council.Karen Briggs from Ancrum Community Council and local resident Rosie Hunt are pictured with their dogs at the new Witch Burn Bridge, which has been constructed thanks to a grant from the Fallago Environment Fund. Photo: Ancrum Community Council.
Karen Briggs from Ancrum Community Council and local resident Rosie Hunt are pictured with their dogs at the new Witch Burn Bridge, which has been constructed thanks to a grant from the Fallago Environment Fund. Photo: Ancrum Community Council.

They are as follows: £2,200 to improve Witch Burn Path, Ancrum; £2,500 to repair Williestruther Loch perimeter footpath in Hawick; £1,067.20 to restore Reston Riverside Woodland Walks; £2,222.89 for improvements to the Earlston Circular Path; £2,200 for improvements to the Headland Memorial Walk, Eyemouth; £2,500 for repairs to the Eckford Community Walk; £2,500 for improvements to 1,100m of path at Chirnside; £2,210 for the purchase of four pedestrian access gates on four new routes at the Logan, Tweedsmuir; and £1,192.64 for improvement work on the Diamond Jubilee Path, Earlston.

Gareth Baird, chairman, Fallago Environment Fund, said: “The pandemic has seen members of the public increasingly turn to outdoor exercise, which has huge physical benefits and has enabled important social interaction in a safe environment.

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"As the situation eases, these windfarm-generated Fallago Environment Fund grants leave a legacy of improved path infrastructure that will help Borders residents enjoy easier and safer access to the region’s countryside.”

The Fallago Environment Fund shares the benefits of the Fallago Rig Wind Farm in the Lammermuir Hills with projects across the Scottish Borders and developed a special grant scheme to help restore community paths in the Borders to enable the public to exercise safely outdoors during the pandemic and beyond.

Each of the community groups has now been able to complete a series of improvements to local paths to help to ensure that the public can benefit from the physical and mental health benefits of outdoor exercise.

Groups receiving funding include Ancrum Community Council, which received £2,200 to improve Witch Burn Path including building a bridge over the unsafe burn crossing, and Hawick Community Council, which was awarded £2,500 to repair the Williestruther Loch perimeter footpath.

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Stuart Turnbull, chair of Ancrum Community Council, said: “During Covid, this path was seeing a lot of extra use. Thanks to the Fallago Environment Fund, the replacement bridge has saved bank erosion where people were fording the Witch Burn and has given the community a safe way to cross it.

"People who weren’t brave enough to ford the burn are also enjoying the re-opening of a valued route round Ancrum.”

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