With Christmas only days away and the New Year fast approaching, we wanted to take a moment to look back over the 12 months. And what a year it has been.  

From standing up for our treasured path network to bringing the benefits of walking to ever more people, here are some highlights of what you’ve made possible in 2024.  

 

1. You helped protect and improve hundreds of miles of paths across Britain 

Over the last year, your dedication to our path network has led to a whopping 182 miles of paths being opened or improved. Whether making our paths more accessible by installing new infrastructure, saving historic paths as part of our Don’t Lose Your Way campaign or supporting our battles in the courts, you’ve played your part in keeping our paths open to all. 

But we know our work is far from done. Back in January, we worked with the BBC to uncover 32,000 places where paths are blocked in England and Wales and just a few months later, the huge backlog of 8,000 rights of way applications that could see paths lost forever. 

Plenty to sink our teeth into in the new year.  

 

2. With your support, we’ve campaigned to break down barriers to the outdoors 

Despite the great progress we’ve made over the last few years, we know all too well just how many barriers remain to getting outdoors.  

So, in April we teamed up with decorated Paralympian David Weir CBE to launch our Outdoors Unlocked campaign, calling for a transformative new Access to Nature Bill in England. And you really got behind us, with over 700 members, volunteers and supporters writing to their MP to demonstrate the huge support for expanding and protecting our access. 

In Scotland, we published research into the uneven distribution of core paths, calling on the government to invest in access and trails, particularly for Scottish communities who face the greatest challenges to getting out walking. And in Wales, we continue to fight for better funding for our rights of way, meeting with the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary to drive home its importance over the last year.  

 

3. You’ve led the way by delivering over 100,000 walks 

Group walks are one of the best ways to get new walkers into the outdoors. And whether out with your local group or leading a Ramblers Wellbeing Walk, over the last 12 months you’ve delivered over 130,000 walks!  

That’s a truly colossal impact. For just Ramblers Wellbeing Walks alone, that’s helped an estimated 550,000 walkers to get out into nature near where they live.   

But we don’t want to stop there. So earlier this year, we joined together with the National Trust, Sport England, YHA and others to develop the Walk Together Pathway, a new collaborative project to tackle underrepresentation in the outdoors.  

Designed to support people from Global Majority communities to become qualified walk leaders, this year, the project welcomed 49 participants from 17 organisations and has delivered nine leadership training courses and four personal skills courses around England and Wales. 

 

4. We expanded the Out There Award into England 

As well as another stellar year for the Out There Award in Scotland, 2024 marked the first time we expanded the award into England, with events in Taunton, Bridgwater and Bristol. Across both nations, we welcomed 125 young adults along to develop their outdoor skills, meet new people and discover nature where they live.  

And the reception was fantastic, with 100% of graduates saying they would recommend the Out There Award to their peers.  

 

5. Together, we’ve reached out to communities who face the most barriers to the outdoors 

As well as joining together with our partners to train the next generation of walk leaders, we’ve also focussed on building new community networks where barriers to the outdoors are the greatest.  

In Scotland, our Community Outreach programme has been working alongside a range of  community groups, and social inclusion charities like SCOREscotland and The Welcoming, to lead inspiring walks with refugees, asylum seekers and people from Global Majority communities.  

Together we’ve walked local routes on people’s doorsteps, explored what participants want to learn about the outdoors and shared basic navigation, route-planning and safety skills, so they can enjoy more adventures in future too. And we were delighted when earlier in the year, the project was singled out for praise by Maree Todd, the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport.    

 

6. Thousands of you helped us find Britain’s Favourite Path 

Our path network is a national treasure. But too often, it’s overlooked and underloved. So over the summer, we decided to give our paths their moment in the sun.  

Inviting people across England, Scotland and Wales to send us a photo of their favourite path and tell us why they love it, we designed the competition to help put our path network in the spotlight and celebrate the huge diversity of paths we have across Britain. And with over 600 entries and 3,000 votes, we were thrilled with the response we received before we crowned Thursley Common the winner.  

A massive thank you for everything you have done to help support our work this year. Whether you’re a member, volunteer, supporter (or all three!), none of what we have achieved would have been possible without your hard work. 

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas break and look forward to seeing you in the New Year!