EWAN WATSON, THE NEW
OATS OUTDOOR ACCESS
PROJECTS OFFICER, TACKLES A BOULDER ON AN TEALLACH
IMPACT REVIEW
PATH CONSTRUCTION
MAINTENANCE VOLUNTEERING
FAIRY POOLS PARKING
SKYE PROJECTS
IT’S UP TO US
OATS FUNDING
WELCOME
It’s been a year of change and challenge for the Outdoor Access Trust for Scotland. We hope you enjoy reading about it in this, our impact review for 2024.
Our year has included path surveying, planning and building, developing innovative techniques and collaborating with partners to raise funds and pave the way for better environmental protection.
Our small charity’s achievements have only been possible because of all the volunteers, contractors, community groups and funding partners who we work with. Our sincere thanks go to them for their commitment and effort.
Demand for path infrastructure is everpresent but pressure on public and private finances has grown greatly. To ensure our funds are spent primarily to deliver our core goals, we have kept our costs down: for instance, we have replaced our office base with a work-from-home system.
Our project work has had a major boost with the hiring of Ewan Watson. Starting off organising our volunteers, he quickly moved to become a Project Officer, taking the weight of schemes such as path improvements in Moray, funded by community benefit payments from the Dorenell Wind Farm, improvements to the Speyside Way, and Glenmore paths in the Cairngorms.
Eva Kupska – a former OATS volunteer herself – has stepped ably into the volunteer organiser role, leading the volunteer path maintenance work and the Adopt A Path scheme.
At the Fairy Pools we have seen Cameron Campbell promoted to car-park supervisor after two years as a seasonal contractor. He’s a great asset to the team.
We have welcomed three new Trustees to our board. Christine Hogben has more than 30 years’ experience in business. A keen outdoors-goer who’s almost completed the Munros, she wants to increase the diversity of those enjoying Scotland’s countryside.
Paul Main, another keen mountaineer, is an experienced former financial executive who, after gaining a Masters from UHI in Sustainable Mountain Development, moved to Golspie and embarked on a new career in deer management for NatureScot.
Peter Crane is a Mountaineering Scotland director and joined OATS when Mountaineering Scotland became a corporate member. He was formerly visitor services team manager for the Cairngorms National Park Authority.
Next year will see a new five year business plan launched: we are looking at prioritising a signature capital project for OATS to take forward, from several exciting options that meet our charitable objectives, including a major longdistance path and a scheme to restore paths in remote mountain areas.
Dougie Baird OATS chief executive
Duncan Bryden Chair of OATS Board of Trustees
DUNCAN BRYDEN
DOUGIE BAIRD
1. JOHN O'GROATS TRAIL
Audit of 147-mile coastal path, p4
2. STAC POLLAIDH
Construction of trailhead car park and off-grid toilets, p4
3. AN TEALLACH / IT'S UP TO US
Path renovation and fundraising campaign, p12
4. THE QUIRAING
Skye Iconic Sites - Path and Conservation Project, p10-11
5. THE OLD MAN OF STORR
Skye Iconic Sites - Path and Conservation Project, p10-11
6. THE FAIRY POOLS
177-space car park and off-grid toilets, p8
7. SPEYSIDE WAY
Path gradient levelling-out project, p4
8. DINNET
40 space trailhead car park
9. CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK
Path maintenance programme, p6
10. BEINN A' GHLO
60 space trailhead car park
11. CHARTER CHEST, INVERCAULD
Path gradient levelling out project, p4
12. DORENELL COMMUNITY PATH
Creating and upgrading a network of paths, p4
13. MEALL A' BHUACHAILLE
Pilot to develop new types of footpath construction, p4
oats across scotland
Building and maintaining mountain paths is at our core but developing and running trailhead infrastructure is an increasingly important activity to protect delicate environments, ease pressure on communities, help hill-goers, and raise vital funds. OATS finds solutions to access issues to help landowners, path users, communities and our many partners.
DUNDEE
EDINBURGH
GLASGOW
EYEMOUTH
MALLAIG
Getting the
WORK DONE
A new face is leading for OATS on the ground
Ewan Watson is the new OATS outdoor access projects officer, leading on path construction. He spent eight years pathbuilding with Cairngorm Wilderness Contracts, undertaking a number of OATS projects including the Ben More path at Crianlarich.
Ewan, 34, from Inverness, is a climber, hill-walker and mountain-biker, and a member of the Kintail Mountain Rescue Team. He describes his OATS job as “a labour of love.”
Here he details his current projects.
DORENELL COMMUNITY PATH LINKS PROJECT
The project is creating and upgrading a network of paths linking communities in the Dorenell Wind Farm area of benefit, north-east of the Cairngorms National Park. The project steering group includes Moray Council, EDF Dorenell and Glenlivet Estate, plus local community groups. The total cost of the network should be £370,000. £220,000 has been secured from the EDF Renewables Dorenell Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund. I’ll be involved in a lot of grant applications to raise the rest!
As well as surveying the proposed routes,
MEALL A’BHUACHAILLE PILOT PROJECT
OATS is working with the Cairngorm National Park Authority (CNPA), Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) and the RSPB to pilot new types of footpath construction, adapting current techniques to the changing demands of user groups and climate change.
Meall a’Bhuachaille is a popular hill in the heart of the Cairngorm National Park which is used by hill walkers, mountain bikers and hill runners. This plus the changing climate has led to significant degradation of the path – possibly exacerbated by the construction method of footpath features, with for example bikers dodging around raised water-bars.
The CNPA and FLS has pooled funding and asked OATS to come up with solutions, such as setting drainage flush with the path surface so bikers can run through easily. Improvements to pitching will also be carried out. The project will monitor path use, and work is scheduled to be completed by spring next year.
SPEYBANK REALIGNMENT
The Speybank Realignment project seeks to improve a steep section of the Speyside Way near Kincraig, a barrier to active travel. CRC Scot, who have worked with OATS on similar projects are now carrying out the work. It will include the installation of gabion baskets to stabilise burn banks, and giving the steep path a gentler gradient, with work completed before the new year.
OTHER CONSULTATIONS
We have provided consultation services to Scottish Woodlands at Clachnaben in Aberdeenshire. After further surveys early next year OATS will act as project manager.
EWAN WATSON ON BEN MORE WHEN A PATH BUILDING CONTRACTOR
OTHER OATS PROJECTS
STAC POLLAIDH TRAILHEAD, COIGACH, WESTER ROSS
Work on the expansion of the car park at the popular Stac Pollaidh trailhead in Coigach, Sutherland, began in September.
OATS is managing a two-phase project at the site, which will give the 50,000 people who visit the rugged mountain each year an improved experience.
The development of the car park and toilet facilities is in response to the existing 20-space car park getting filled to overflowing, leading to parking in passing places and other roadside spots, traffic obstruction and environmental damage.
Phase one will see the car park expanded to 78 spaces, with specialists CR Contracting North Ltd (CRC), carrying out the works. The car park should be fully operational again by the New Year.
Phase two includes building off-grid toilet facilities and a processing plant, starting early in 2025.
The plans are the result of a lengthy consultation process with the local community, landowners, the Highland Council and NatureScot.
Some revenue from the new car-park will go towards maintaining the Stac Pollaidh path, which is seriously impacted by visitor volumes.
THE CHARTER CHEST PATH, INVERCAULD, BRAEMAR
The recent official opening of the newly constructed Charter Chest path beside the A93, near Braemar, was the culmination of a challenging project co-ordinated and managed by OATS.
The 2km path now connects Braemar to the car park at the Keiloch via the historic Queen’s Drive, and the Old Brig o' Dee military bridge at Invercauld.
The path also links the village with the path network around Craig Leek, closing the gap between two paths in the Cairngorms National Park Core Path Plan and providing a link from Braemar to Mar Lodge that’s mainly off road.
and Aberdeenshire Council with CRC from Banchory tackling the work on the ground.
Support from the landowners, the Invercauld and Balmoral estates, and the Braemar Community, has been essential to the project’s delivery.
The steep, narrow ground below the Charter Chest crag required a new sustainable retaining-wall construction method to create a wider and safer path for cyclists and walkers by the busy A93.
The team had to deal with more underlying boulder clay than anticipated.
The works also accommodated the protection of rare animals and birds in the vicinity.
MEALL A'BUCHAILLE PATH EROSION
BALMORAL ESTATE
PATHS SURVEY
FOOTPATH
Maintenance Volunteering
The OATS volunteer footpath maintenance programme plays a crucial role in the upkeep of Scotland’s mountain footpath network. The reach of OATS volunteering has expanded and has included Stac Pollaidh and An Teallach as well as the Cairngorms National Park this year. By regularly undertaking maintenance tasks such as clearing blocked drains, volunteers keep water flowing as intended. This stops the path surface being damaged by water. Degraded walking surfaces lead to erosion and the changing climate, with more heavy downpours, seems to be accelerating these effects, making volunteer maintenance even more vital.
Volunteers’ work lets us spend more on professionals resolving more complex issues.
Ewan Watson OATS Projects Officer
“LEARNING NEW SKILLS, LISTENING TO OTHER’S EXPERIENCES, AND WORKING OUTSIDE COLOURS ONE’S LIFE.”
This year, our upland path volunteering started in March with a two-day event at An Teallach led by Ewan. It gave the volunteers a chance to work alongside professional path builders. Ewan ran the volunteering until June, when I took on the role of Volunteer Coordinator, leading the path maintenance and Adopt a Path programmes.
Being an OATS volunteer and a path adoptee for couple of years really sparked my interest in Scotland’s outdoor access network. Having just finished Wildlife and Conservation Management studies, I wanted to develop further skills in outdoor conservation.
In June and July, the focus was on getting our new Volunteering Portal up and running. By mid-July, volunteers were registering and signing up for sessions. The portal proved user-friendly and let us better coordinate the maintenance programme.
Planning the volunteering sessions meant collaboration with partners, stakeholders and landowners. Their support is crucial. Among others, we have been working with Forestry and Land Scotland, RSPB, Balmoral Estate and NatureScot.
We were often joined for sessions by the Cairngorm National Park volunteer rangers.
I was very pleased to have returning volunteers attending multiple events and supporting newcomers. The growing availability of volunteer days in workplaces gives more people the chance to get involved. Path maintenance is an obvious choice for hill-walkers, climbers, runners, mountain bikers... they all enjoy giving something back to the mountains.
The volunteering season ended with a three-day event at An Teallach, where our group joined the path builders again and supported the ongoing It’s Up to Us campaign. I plan more multi-day trips next year.
Over the winter I will update our Adopt a Path Scheme. Providing training courses again should encourage more volunteers to join the scheme and let the existing adoptees brush up on their surveying skills.
There is also a rising interest in tailored volunteer days for corporate groups. I will be looking into developing such events.
Eva Kupska OATS Volunteer Coordinator
PATH VOLUNTEER
EVA KUPSKA, OATS VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
20 5 20 4 267 1
SINGLE DAY VOLUNTEERING SESSIONS
MULTI-DAY VOLUNTEER TRIPS
DIFFERENT LOCATIONS VISITED
LOCATIONS VISITED MORE THAN ONCE
KILOMETRES OF PATHS COVERED
55 15 13 4-5 768 25% TWO DAYS OF HARD WORK AT STAC POLLAIDH
SESSION CANCELLED DUE TO A STORM
WILLIAM GRIFFITHS CLEARING A CROSS-DRAIN
“I AM PHYSICALLY STRONGER NOW AND HAVE MORE STAMINA, MENTAL HEALTH IMPROVED BY BEING IN THE OUTDOORS, MOST TIMES IN THE SUNSHINE. AND IT IMPROVED MY SENSE OF HUMOR FROM WORKING WITH VARIED GROUPS OF GOOD PEOPLE.”
PATH VOLUNTEER
VOLUNTEERS FUN FACTS
DIFFERENT VOLUNTEERS
VOLUNTEERS ATTENDING MULTIPLE SESSIONS
CAIRNGORM NATIONAL PARK VOLUNTEER RANGERS
VOLUNTEERS PER SESSION
VOLUNTEERING HOURS
FEMALE VOLUNTEERS
£35,000
VALUE OF WORK BY OATS VOLUNTEERS
1200km WALKED BY VOLUNTEERS
56,680m ASCENT BY VOLUNTEERS –6.4 EVERESTS!
14 HOME-MADE CAKES EATEN
SKYE No Limits!
Skye has been a huge part of the work of OATS in recent years. On these four pages read about our current work and just what OATS is bringing to the island.
MAGIC AT THE FAIRY POOLS
At the Fairy Pools, we've built a good team who understand, appreciate, and respect the environment we are lucky enough to call our workplace. We love to share it with others who want to experience it.
We welcomed Cameron Campbell this year as the new Supervisor. Cameron has previously worked here for two years as a seasonal contractor.
This summer season Becky MacLean and Megan Campbell returned to the site, Becky having worked here for the previous five seasons and Megan for two. The team was completed by Kenny MacKenzie, a crofter, and Claire Anderson, a marine biology student.
We must give a shout-out to another valued team member: Scott Sinclair was with us for two years but left in March to join the Ambulance Service. He'll be missed.
Last year 5,700 sq m of car-park was tarred and line-marked. The new 177-vehicle capacity lets us keep the car-park open longer and prevents queues and congestion.
Sadly, the condition of the road to the pools deteriorated badly this year, with the Highland Council struggling to maintain it. The road gave many problems to the community, staff and visitors.
We had at times up to five hours of gridlock with vehicles stuck and damaged. Vehicles with punctures filling passing places added chaos to mayhem. We stepped in to help, guiding folk safely out, sometimes doing the work of the police when they could not get through. There were many late nights and long shifts!
The council has now been granted extra funding to fix the road. I’m hoping this will change what has been a very negative experience for everyone.
Servicing agents Brig Environmental and tanker contractors Denholm did a great job dealing with the emptying and cleaning of the toilet treatment plant in March, with two tankers used for the desludging and a third for jet-spraying the chambers.
After a busy spring, we were advised to get it all done again! We were delighted that the team involved had sussed out our needs and turned up in the early hours on the due date. When I arrived at 6am the job was already done and the tankers were leaving the car-park long before any traffic built up: great planning.
The interpretation boards and bench outside the facility, part of the Skye Iconic Sites Project (SISP), are a focus of great interest that many visitors enjoy. The shelter built in 2023 for less able-bodied visitors has been enjoyed by many.
The map and information board at the entrance is really useful, showing the type of walk, elevations and what to expect, and guiding walkers to the gate.
The path maintenance work and construction of two bridges over the burns, completed in March 2023 through SISP, has made a massive difference to safer access and footfall erosion on the hill.
Ali Campbell Fairy Pools Facility Manager
EMPTYING AND CLEANING OF TOILETS TREATMENT PLANT
FAIRY POOLS ACCESS ROAD FOLLOWING A LACK OF MAINTENANCE
GLENGRIDLOCKON BRITTLE ROAD CAUSED BYPOORROAD CONDITION
FAIRY POOLS STAFF AT ONE OF THE NEW BRIDGES
SIGNFAIRYPOOLS SHOWING BREAKDOWNINCOME
FACT & FIGURES BENEFITS
235,526 people visited the Fairy Pools, almost 10,000 more than the previous year.
91,263
visitor vehicles used the car park, not including local free permit holders and tour firms with annual permits.
39,700 litres
The treatment tank capacity for the toilets, with two tankers needed to empty it. This year they had to pay two visits…
Community projects Minginish Community Association has funded from the community rental income from the Fairy Pools Car Park include:
• A children's gardening club polytunnel and outdoor classroom at the local school.
• The local community-owned shop.
• The local football team.
• A 10% local resident discount scheme at the local community owned shop.
• The local children's shinty team.
• A hardship fund for those in financial difficulty.
• A community housing project to enable more young people and families to stay in our community.
VIEW FROM THE FAIRY POOLS CAR PARK
SKYE No Limits!
EIGHT YEARS OF EFFORT
OATS came to Skye in 2016 after an invitation from the Minginish Community Hall Association to help with the big challenge of the social media-driven popularity of the Fairy Pools. Issues included roadside parking, lack of toilets, path erosion and visitor safety.
From that invitation came a series of notable firsts, benefiting Skye and other parts of rural Scotland.
In 2017, part of the national forest estate in Glen Brittle was sold to the community for the Fairy Pools car park construction, in the first Community Asset Transfer (CAT) by the Forestry Commission (now Forestry and Land Scotland) after the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.
In 2018, to provide capital to help fund work by OATS at the Fairy Pools, the Scottish Government’s Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund (RTIF) was set up. RTIF has subsequently awarded £20 million of grant funding to 75 projects in rural Scotland, including at Trotternish, Elgol, Portree and Blabheinn, all on Skye.
In 2019, OATS led on coordinating the Skye Iconic Sites Project (SISP) with core funding from a successful bid to the Natural and Cultural Heritage Fund (NCHF), supported by EU money. By 2021 OATS had gathered over £800,000 for the SISP project, with over £500,000 from NCHF.
This was a further injection of capital investment to improve paths and restore the environment at the Fairy Pools and two other hugely popular natural visitor sites in Skye – the Old Man of Storr and the Quiraing.
The money also covered interpretation, with a vital Gaelic element, and technological solutions to visitor management, including dynamic roadside messaging.
For a small charity OATS has invested hugely in Skye, with borrowing to cover cash flow and welcome support from public bodies such as Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Highland Council.
Much of the £1.8 million investment (almost £2 for every Skye visitor in 2024), was delivered using Skye and Highlandbased businesses.
Since the Fairy Pools car park opened in 2019 OATS has each year (with a break for Covid) directly contributed to the Skye economy the salaries of four full-time equivalent posts.
Tens of thousands of pounds in community benefit payments flow to the Minginish community alongside spending on local goods and services.
Improvements at Skye’s iconic natural sites by OATS enables many more millions in visitor spending to enter Skye’s economy and that of Scotland as a whole.
Duncan Bryden Chair of OATS
No Limits!
WHAT THEY SAY ON SKYE SKYE
TOURISM DELIGHT
SkyeConnect – Skye’s tourist management organisation – is delighted with the work OATS has carried out at the Fairy Pools. The car park and facilities are fantastic assets.
The growth in visitors to Skye – now reliably at 850,000 a year, up 30% since 2019 – means more people wish to visit the Fairy Pools each year. Visitor numbers there rose 15% between 2022 and 2023 and will be higher still when figures are released for 2024.
driving and the degradation of the road surface. Without the OATS car park the situation would have been disastrous.
Fortunately, the experience when visitors finally get to the Fairy Pools is excellent. The work OATS has carried out in terms of accessibility, environmental restoration and interpretative signage is first class and helps create positive memories for visitors.
One example would be SkyeConnect's Visitor Management Tool, the MySkyeTime APP and dynamic signage at the Skye Bridge and the turnoff onto the Glenbrittle road. This technology has the potential to ease some of the pressures at the Fairy Pools, enabling OATS to alert visitors when the road is congested or the car-park is full.
This year has been challenging, with chaos on the Glenbrittle road through the sheer volume of vehicles, inappropriate
OATS has been a valuable partner on the Skye Iconic Sites Group, the driving force behind the Skye Iconic Sites Project, and SkyeConnect looks forward to working more closely with the team in future.
FAIRY POOLS TOILET BLOCK CONSTRUCTION
INFORMATION BOARD AT THE OLD MAN OF STORR
On behalf of SkyeConnect, I congratulate OATS for their continuing commitment to enhancing access and the visitor experience.
Simon Cousins Director, SkyeConnect
COMMUNITY CHEER
Minginish Community Association (MCA) has seen the benefits and impact of the Fairy Pools car park for the Glenbrittle community.
The provision of 177 car-park spaces has relieved pressure on the single-track road that serves the pools, improving traffic flow for visitors and local residents.
We were also delighted to see the habitat protection and restoration work delivered by OATS as part of the Skye Iconic Sites Project (SISP)
The work done on paths, bridges and the surrounding habitat will ensure the Fairy Pools can continue to welcome visitors for many years to come.
MCA of course receives a regular rent for the car-park site from the Fairy Pools parking receipts and was as a result able to contribute to the SISP project, through our Fairy Pools Car Park Fund. Through this fund we have also supported many community initiatives, see page 9.
HABITAT RESTORATION WORK AT THE OLD MAN OF STORR
Of those projects, developing a community housing project, so more of our young people can stay, live, and work in their community, is vital to Minginish's future.
Dawn Campbell Project Officer, Minginish Community Association
It’s Up To US
£229,616 RAISED
It’s Up to Us is a campaign by OATS and Mountaineering Scotland to raise awareness of the desperate need for investment in the repair and maintenance of informal mountain paths, to protect the fragile mountain environment and ensure the safety of path users.
Since its launch in May 2023 the It's Up to Us campaign has raised £229,616.
The three year campaign kicked off with the project to raise £300,000 to tackle decades of erosion on An Teallach, one of the most iconic Scottish mountains, and focuses on the responsibility of hillgoers themselves to help maintain and contribute towards the paths they use.
It is raising the profile of the challenges facing land managers in Scotland to fund path repair and maintenance, the need for further investment in this area and the social and economic benefits of good mountain paths.
It is also engaging with other stakeholders and the Scottish Government to develop a proper framework to direct funds into upland paths.
ITS UP TO US APPEAL DONATIONS
VOLUNTEER MORVEN MACALLISTER
It’s
Up To US
TONNES OF WORK
Professionals and volunteers get stuck in to tackle a Wester Ross
Since starting work in 2023, the team at Cairngorm Wilderness Contracts (CWC) has completed roughly 370m of new footpath on An Teallach, the first project for the It’s Up to Us campaign.
This consists of around 80m of stone pitching and 290m of aggregate path. They have installed 15 anchor bars (stones used to prevent aggregate being washed away), 40 step risers (similar to previous but with a step in height), 17 waterbars, 14 cross-drains and roughly 55m of stone revetment.
Ditching has also been extended and improved across the site to ensure water does not damage the path surface. Considerable time and effort have also gone into landscaping over the old path line and areas of erosion that had developed over time. This encourages the natural regeneration of the local vegetation and deters people from walking off the path.
To carry out this work it is estimated the team has taken 130 tonnes of aggregate from borrow pits on site and gathered over 100 tonnes of rock from the surrounding hillside. This is painstaking work but by using local materials, sourced directly on site the visual impact of the new path is greatly reduced.
giant
chance to experience working alongside experienced contractors and to learn key footpath construction techniques.
The first sections that were built in 2023 and early 2024 are already merging seamlessly into the landscape and have drawn numerous remarks from walkers about how well the work blends in and how it seems to have been there a lot longer than it actually has!
All of this has been done entirely by hand, with some of the stones used in the path weighing a tonne apiece and moved into place using a manually operated winch.
Volunteers have also played a part in the An Teallach work, with OATS organising three multi-day volunteer trips to the site.
The volunteers have relished the opportunity and several have returned for two or even all three trips. Being able to work with professionals and see the skill and hard work that goes into making a footpath has given the volunteers a deeper appreciation of paths and path builders.
The skills and experience they have gained have also fed out into their regular path maintenance volunteering activities with OATS as they now have a better understanding of why paths have been built as they are and the things they can do to protect them. We hope to provide more of those volunteering opportunities as the project progresses.
PATH REPAIR PROFESSIONALS AND VOLUNTEERS ON AN TEALLACH
In the coming months the CWC team will be moving into a tricky section of the build with deep eroded ruts, bedrock and large, buried boulders to contend with. Getting the line and style of the path right here will be key to keeping people on the path line and encouraging regeneration on the old path line and its surroundings.
We’re confident that the skills and experience of the team at CWC will be more than a match for this difficult section and the end result will equal the excellent standard of path built so far.
Ewan Watson OATS Access Projects Officer
FINDING A WAY TO FUND OUR WORK
There seems no end these days to the downturn in public funding available in general, and in particular for our field of work, so we need to be imaginative and innovative in how we fund access and conservation work.
Car parking is one source of money. The Fairy Pools facility is ably managed by our manager and her excellent team, and we have also added Beinn A Ghlo and Dinnet car parks, with Stac Pollaidh under construction and due to come on line early next year.
These car parks not only provide a muchneeded service to ease pressures on remote locations folks like to visit, but we hope over the years will produce a return that can be used for future projects.
This does not come without OATS making investments and taking risks. The Trust has so far put £400,000 of its own funds towards the Fairy Pools Facility and Skye Iconic Sites project, much of this borrowed. The end of the 2023-24 financial year marked the point when this was largely recovered – we will now support further access and conservation projects with any surplus.
We have recently started delivering on the Dorenell Access Network in partnership with Tomintoul and Glenlivet Development Trust, with funds for this community-led initiative largely coming through EDF, the renewable energy firm creating the Dorenell wind farm.
This is an interesting development for access. With renewables overwhelmingly located in remote and wild parts of the country, it is great to see some of the cash it makes invested back in the area. We hope to make the case to decision-makers that access and conservation is a worthwhile sector to invest at least some of the funds from this rapidly growing sector.
The It’s Up To Us campaign we are running in partnership with Mountaineering Scotland has done well so far, with over £200k generated of the £300k target and Year Two works just starting. But we really need to continue to make the case to mountaineers throughout the UK who enjoy Scotland’s hills that it really is down to them – us – to contribute to mountain path work. There is no taxpayers’ money for this any more.
As we work towards the next business plan our team is consolidating and growing again, with Ewan Watson joining us to work on Access and Conservation projects, and Eva Kupska joining as Volunteer Coordinator.
Ali Campbell and Cameron Campbell are our full-time staff at the Fairy Pools, with our excellent seasonal staff Scott Sinclair, Meghan Campbell, Becky McLean all helping make the Fairy Pools facility a success. Scott moved on in the winter to train as an Ambulance driver and we wish him the very best.
Our Trust is led by Duncan Bryden and his board of Trustees, all volunteers. They lead us with wisdom and integrity built up from diverse careers in related sectors. The third sector is now a major part of the economy as charities deliver on so much that can no longer be funded through local or national government. It is wholly reliant on people with knowledge and experience that have a civic sense of responsibility and give up their free time to help make things happen.
Dougie Baird OATS chief executive
HOW OATS PUTS CASH IN SCOTLAND’S POCKETS
The upgraded paths, new car parks and toilets that OATS completes are a source of pride and amazement to me. It shows what can be achieved with a small, dedicated team of committed people and a modest budget. I want to highlight the scale of benefits and returns that OATS delivers for people living in and visiting Scotland.
Tourism is a key sector in the Scottish economy and worth more than £11 billion. So why do people come here?
Visit Scotland research in 2023 shows the standout thing that calls people to Scotland is our scenery and landscapes –the hills and glens where OATS operates. They are the primary draw for 82% of European markets and almost 70% of UK markets.
Path user numbers appear to be on a par with those visiting a museum or gallery.
In 2023, VisitScotland calculates there were overnight visits by four million international visitors and 12.4 million GB residents. It is abundantly clear that for visitors in every life stage – young folk to retirement – the outdoors and nature is either the first or second driver for a Scottish holiday, particularly for overseas visitors, and they will use rural car parks, paths, and toilets on their trip.
Two in five of all visitors said they took a hike during their trip. Dutch visitors showed the highest propensity to go hill-walking (66%). Path user numbers appear to be on a par with those visiting a museum or gallery.
Path use by day visitors from Scotland and the rest of the UK needs to be added to that of overnight visitors.
It is calculated that there were 92.9 million tourism day visits taken in Scotland by UK residents in 2023. We are not exactly sure how many of those visitors used paths and facilities provided or enabled by OATS, but evidence points to hundreds of thousands on the hills.
OATS also supports volunteering as a core part of its charitable purposes. For this time and effort, given freely, OATS is most grateful.
Volunteers deliver major tangible returns to path management, and tell us getting weather-beaten, dirty and tired, alongside some cake, helps their physical and mental wellbeing. It also provides excellent training opportunities and experience for future employment in conservation.
In rural areas, the economic “return on investment” from the work of OATS often flies under the radar, but helps underpin a sizeable part of Scotland’s £11 billion pound tourism economy as visitors fulfil their ambitions by safely accessing our hills and glens.
Returns also come from reducing the blight in host communities from irresponsible parking and “al fresco” toileting, managing the impact from thousands of feet on treasured sites, and using local contractors.
A boost to the physical and mental health of path users is an added return, with substantial savings for our underpressure NHS.
The returns from the work of OATS with partners to provide meaningful volunteering activities, especially for people living and working close to path networks, are obvious.
We want to see an expansion of the opportunities available for volunteering in path work and ensure they are open to people from all backgrounds.
The evidence is there that OATS provides important strategic visitor infrastructure that’s demand driven and open to all, with significant benefits to people, communities, the economy, and the environment.
We look forward to continuing this work in 2025 and beyond, guided by our new Business Plan.
Duncan Bryden Chair of OATS Board of Trustees
DUNCAN AT THE OLD MAN OF STORR
OATS IS A GROUND-BREAKING ENVIRONMENTAL CHARITY PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC
We develop, build and repair paths, mountain habitats and trailhead facilities to help the public, landowners and communities, protecting the country’s natural heritage in popular, remote and fragile places.
OATS carries out anything from surveying and planning to fullblown campaigns and developments, all to help people to enjoy the outdoors, while protecting the environment.
Our access infrastructure is built sustainably, in partnership with others. We train conservation workers and volunteers of the future
All our work is firmly focused on our four key charitable objectives that are highlighted in our Annual Impact Review:
• Path networks for public benefit
• Promoting skills and experience
• Promoting responsible use
• Promoting good health
OUR SUPPORTERS
OATS can only carry out the level and standard of work it does with financial support from a wide range of organisations, public bodies, NGO's, private companies, charitable trusts and individual donors.
Thank you to all who support our work.
