THE vast, rolling expanse of the Forsinard Flows and the snow-covered majesty of Ben Nevis are hugely different features of Scotland’s stunning landscape.
But they share common ground beyond their beauty, as they are among 25 locations to feature in a celebratory new guide that marks the silver anniversary of the National Lottery and is designed to showcase the fruits of more than half a billion pounds invested into the UK's natural heritage over this period.
The ‘National Lottery’s Guide to 25 Amazing Outdoor Adventures’ is UK-wide, featuring rugged coastlines and mountain footpaths, as well as nature reserves, parks and forests.
With just days until the lottery turns 25 – on November 19 – the guide highlights some of the UK landmarks that have benefitted from funding during this time, also including Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, as well as The Glens of Antrim in Northern Ireland, Snowdonia in Wales and an array of spots in England, including Morecambe Bay and Windermere Jetty Museum.
In Scotland, the park at Loch Lomond has received more than £1.5 million of National Lottery funding and guide readers are encouraged to go mountain biking, hiking or wild camping on the hills and glens of the Trossachs.
And up in Sutherland, the Forsinard Flows is regarded as one of Scotland’s most important natural treasures, with the RSPB receiving more than £4.7 million of National Lottery funding to protect and enhance what is known as 'Flow Country.'
There, the RSPB looks after more than 21,000 hectares of nature reserve, home to amazing wildlife, such as breeding waders, hunting hen harrier or herds of grazing red deer.
To mark the anniversary, former Blue Peter presenter, Helen Skelton, led an expedition to the summit of the Ben, joined by a group of young people from the PEEK Project in Glasgow's east end, which has received more than £1 million of National Lottery funds to aid its work to improve the life chances of children and young people across Scotland through a programme of free play and creative learning.
Ms Skelton said: "I loved getting out into the great outdoors with an enthusiastic and excited group of young people. It was exhausting – but brilliant.
"National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes and have contributed so much to the UK’s amazing and varied landscapes. I am a huge supporter of people experiencing the great outdoors for themselves. ‘The National Lottery’s Guide to 25 Amazing Outdoor Adventures’ will hopefully inspire people to discover their next adventure."
Michaela Collins, chief executive of PEEK, said: “This was an incredible experience for the young people. I’m thrilled that they got a chance to do something so amazing. Funding from The National Lottery players has been crucial to our organization and helped us in our work to improve the lives of children and young people across Scotland.”
The expedition was in conjunction with the Nevis Landscape Partnership – an organisation which works to conserve and enhance the incredible landscape of Ben Nevis and Glen Nevis, thanks to over £1.9million of funding from The National Lottery.
Every year around 160,000 people hike to the summit.
Mike Pescod, Chairman of the Nevis Landscape Partnership, said: “We are delighted to see Ben Nevis included in The National Lottery’s 25 Amazing Outdoor Adventures Guide. It’s fantastic to see these young people out enjoying the landscape, giving them a really special experience in nature. With the investment from The National Lottery we’ve been able to completely redevelop our mountain path over the last 5 years, making this experience possible.”
Over the last 25 years, The National Lottery has given more than £59 million to all of the organisations featured in guide.
Drew Bennellick, head of landscapes and nature for The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Looking after our landscapes and reconnecting people with nature has never been more important. Over the last 25 years, National Lottery funding has had an extraordinary impact on our natural heritage and opened up so many opportunities for people to access the great outdoors.
“These 25 places to visit are just the tip of the iceberg – we’ve funded thousands of projects protecting our landscapes, parks and green spaces and helping people enjoy the great outdoors – with all the health and wellbeing benefits they bring. We’re hoping the new guide will encourage more people to find their next adventure, no matter how big or small.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here