Walkhighlands wins top award after success of new app
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A POPULAR outdoors site run by a Highland-based duo bagged an award at the Scottish Walking Awards.
Walkhighlands took home the title of Scotland’s Business Walking Champion after the launch of the beta version of their new app.
Over 44,000 people have downloaded and used the beta version of the Walkhighlands app, which launches officially this week. The app enables the routes and mapping from the Walkhighlands website to be downloaded for use when offline, such as when you have no phone signal.
Site co-founder Helen Webster, who runs the site with husband Paul, said: “Our own lives have been immeasurably enriched and transformed by walking. We want everyone to be able to enjoy the same benefits we do, for both their physical and mental health.
"Walkhighlands mission is to provide well-researched information on routes in every part of Scotland and the new app enables people to save both our route descriptions and detailed GPS mapping, completely free of charge, on their phones.”
“We’re thrilled to have won this award; the fact that the nomination came from members of the public makes it even more special,” said Paul. “We hope that the app will help people discover new places to get outdoors, whether it’s near their homes or when travelling in all corners of the country.”
The Scottish Walking Awards are held every two years and showcase work happening in Scotland to help increase walking and wheeling. They are run by walking charities Paths for All, Living Streets Scotland and Ramblers Scotland and aim to recognise people, businesses and organisations who are helping Scotland to become a walking nation.
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The app is not listed in app stores but only available from the Walkhighlands website.
Walkhighlands was founded in 2006 and is based in the Cairngorms National Park and now is Scotland's busiest outdoors site and has over a million visits each month.
Walks are all individually written especially for the site and users can then contribute their own accounts and experiences on the routes.
The site is funded by a combination of advertising for local businesses, and donations from users who want to see it continue as a universally available resource.
