18 Dec Round up of our successful 2025 Path Maintenance Volunteer Programme
We recently completed our final path maintenance volunteer day of the 2025 annual programme, and we would like to give a massive shout-out to all our hardworking and enthusiastic volunteers for investing a whopping 1,514 hours of their time to keep Scotland’s mountain paths in a sustainable condition that will benefit hill users.
A total of 107 volunteers participated in the 2025 programme, which included 21 upland path maintenance days, 10 lowland conservation days and 7 multi-day trips, at 30 separate locations.
They worked on 312 kilometres of paths and cleared and restored 1933 drainage features. The commercial value of this excellent work carried out by OATS volunteers was approximately £60,560.
The 2025 programme was supported by 27 different partners, collaborators and funders.
A message to our volunteers from Eva Kupska, OATS Outdoor Access Volunteer Coordinator: “A huge thanks to all our volunteers, partners, collaborators, funders and donors. The footpaths, both upland and lowland, that we have worked on this year now have a much better chance of withstanding Scotland’s ever-increasing harsh weather conditions and the rising pressure from hill users. Thanks to you all, these mountain environments and vulnerable habitats stay protected. You are the advocates of sustainable path use.
“I am working on the programme for 2026. We will announce the dates soon. Our fantastic team of volunteers will be the first to know when we publish on the OATS Volunteer Portal. For now, have a fantastic festive season and a happy, healthy 2026.”
Our 2025 path maintenance volunteer programme in numbers:
OATS volunteers
- 107 Different volunteers took part
- 6 Volunteers per event
- 1514 Volunteering Hours
- 32 Volunteers attending two or more events
- 30% Female Volunteers
- 15 CNP Volunteer Rangers
- 265 Volunteers now registered on the OATS Volunteer Portal
OATS Adopt A Path Scheme
- All 40 mountain paths adopted
- 33 registered volunteer path adoptees – 30 individuals and 3 groups
- 22 path surveys carried out
The maintenance
- 21 Upland path maintenance days
- 7 Multi-day trips
- 10 Lowland conservation days
- 30 Different Locations Visited
- 312 Kilometres of paths covered
- 1933 Drainages cleared
Fun facts
- £60,560 Value of work by OATS volunteers
- 1723 km walked by volunteers
- 57 km cycled by volunteers
- 37 Cakes and 21 Packets of Biscuits consumed
Feedback from a volunteer
I love hillwalking and cycling, so it feels great to play a small part in maintaining the paths I enjoy using. This also benefits the environment, as more people will stick to well maintained paths. The volunteer days give me a boost for the rest of the work week. They are a great conversation topic with my colleagues, and I encourage my colleagues to get involved, as it’s always a fun way to connect. I Kramer
Our partners, collaborators and funders
We would also like to thank our 27 volunteer programme partners, collaborators and funders in 2025. We look forward to working with you all again in 2026.
Balmoral Estate, GlenTanar Estate, Glenlivet Estate, Forestry and Land Scotland, RSPB Scotland, NatureScot, Cairngorm Mountain Ranger Service, Lude Estate, Perthshire, Atholl Estates, Invercauld Estate, Rothiemurchus, WildLand Limited, Inverpolly Estate, Dunvegan Castle and Gardens / MacLeod Estate, ANGUSalive, Mountaineering Scotland, BMC, Cairngorms National Park, Phoenix Futures, Ramblers Scotland, Hostelling Scotland, Badrallach Campsite, Bothy & Cottage, Drumfearn Trees, The Bean Shop, Keela Outdoors, Cairngorm Wilderness Contracts Ltd, H+I Adventures.
Volunteer Registration
If you are keen to give path maintenance volunteering a go, please register on our path maintenance volunteering portal, and you will be the first to receive the calendar for the 2026 programme when it is announced. Click on the link – https://volunteers.outdooraccesstrustforscotland.org.uk/