Community events invite local people to walk, cycle and create local maps

Communities in rural South Lanarkshire are creating a series of new local travel maps and signage to promote walking, cycling and sustainable travel and everyone is invited to contribute their local knowledge at a series of creative mapping workshops, health walks and cycle events.

The new maps will be launched in April 2020 with the aim of encouraging more people to choose sustainable and healthy travel where they can. Coordinated by Leader funded Community Action Lanarkshire and facilitated by creative consultants icecream architecture, the events are taking place in community centres and primary schools in Abington, Crawford, Crawfordjohn, Lamington, Rigside, Douglas, Glespin, Leadhills and Elvanfoot.

The first event of the year took place on 18th January at Crawfordjohn Village Hall where people had the opportunity to co-create and test the design of local maps and signage to connect people to their facilities, services, environment and heritage. Similar events are taking place throughout February as below and people are encouraged to come and give their input into the design of the active travel maps and signage:

• Abington Hall: Saturday 1st February, 2pm - 4pm
• Leadhills Hall: Saturday 8th February, 2pm - 4pm
• Lamington Hall: Saturday 15th February, 2pm - 4pm
• Crawford and Elvanfoot: Saturday 22nd February, 2pm - 4pm
• Glespin: Saturday 29th February, 2pm - 4pm (TBC)

Icecream architecture will also be visiting six primary schools - Rigside, Leadhills, Douglas, Lamington, Abington and Crawford - to work with local children to develop creative maps, explore active travel ideas and go on a themed ‘Walk Out’ with banners and placards. Parents will be invited to come and see the pupils’ ideas at school the same day and add their ideas about walking and cycling as forms of travel in South Lanarkshire.  For these dates please contact your child’s school.

The project will be concluded with three community cycles and a celebratory launch event in March held in collaboration with Free Wheel North, who are currently carrying out a bikeability project in local schools. Keep a lookout on www.communityactionlan.org for more details over the next few weeks.

This project is funded by Smarter Choices Smarter Places, Lanarkshire LEADER and South Lanarkshire Council’s Renewable Energy Fund.  The project is managed by Community Action Lanarkshire supported by the Rural Development Trust.

This work builds on previous community mapping and route improvements undertaken by the Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership. Existing community maps and local route information for Lanark, Carluke, Larkhall, Stonehouse, Glassford and around Chatelherault and the Clyde Valley are available on https://www.communityactionlan.org/explore/explore-the-map.