Boots & Beards
Zain Sehgal is one of the founding members
of Boots & Beards, a Glasgow-based Asian
hillwalking club.
“Boots & Beards started off as a family-
orientated project. The idea was to get the
younger generation (our own kids!) to move
away from technology and explorewhat we
used to explore back in the days. As a family
unit, we decided that the parents would
take the kids every second week and we
would makean effort to get out and enjoy
what we have on our own doorstep. When
we were out at these beautiful locations we
would takepictures and videos, and when
we got back we would post these on social
media. Then our friends started to get in
touch and ask why we never informed them
of the walk and whether they could join
future walks.
“This is the point at which the
organisation got set up professionally.
Although we started off with hillwalking,
our participants havetaken a lead role in
other activities they were keen on and have
led those activities successfully. Bonnie
Boots was launched later, as some women
within our community wanted to be part
of programmes that were not only led by
women but where the environment was
female-orientated as well.
“I have seen the difference that people
have made tothemselves – in terms of
fitness, but also the knock-on effects on
lifestyle and eating habits within their own
families. This is what excites me, and each
new activity we do is all about bettering the
lives of people within our own community.
“When our forefathers came to this
country, they came with one mission –
to earn money and to send that back
to their families. In doing so, they did
not have a chance to explore Scotland
or the surroundings. Our generationthankfully has this chance as our families
are settled here.”
bootsandbeards.co.ukHighland Hillwalking Club
Alex Joss is a founding member of the
Highland Hillwalking Club, a long-established
group for hillwalking enthusiasts based in
the Scottish Highlands.
“We formed the club way back in 1978.
Before that, two groups of us used to go
out walking regularly and, at the time,
the only club in the area was Inverness
Mountaineering Club. There was a feeling
that they were more interested in rock
climbing, so some of us felt that it was
time an official hillwalking club was set up
in the area.
“We’ve always worked on the basis
that there’s a programme for the whole
year and generally the club goes out once
per fortnight. It’s not an organisation that
takes people on led expeditions. The club
programme informs everybody of each
venue, where and when to meet, and
the range of hills it’s possible to walk up.
Sometimes everybody will go on the same
walk, but other times we’ll divide into three
or four groups doing different things.
“What’s goodabout it is that the meets
are pre-planned and you know about them
for a year in advance, so you always have
that group of people to go out with. That’s
particularly useful in the winter – I’m quite
happy to walk on myown in the summer,
but I’m warier of doing that in the
wintertime. A lot of people share transport,
too, so it has plenty of advantages.
Inverness has a lot of people who come from
somewhere else to work here and they’re
looking for some way of going out. And
gradually you make a lot of friends.”
spanglefish.com/highlandhillwalkingclub,
[email protected]Walking groups can offer life-changing
opportunities to boost your skills and fitnesslevels, explore new places and makelike-minded
friends. We asked members from a diverserange of groups to share their experiencesYOU’LLNEVERWALKALONEHighland Hillwalking Club
has a packed schedule of
meets across the yearHighland Hillwalking
Club members above
Glen Sannox, Arran......and celebrating a
Munro compleation12 The Great OutdoorsAugust 2021