I’m Daniel, founder and Chief Exploration Officer here at Slow Ways.
Today we’re launching a major crowdfunding campaign to make it easier for people to walk, run, wheel, cycle and ride – by extending our network, creating a new website and enabling people to find, follow and share the best active routes.
When we started Slow Ways just five years ago, lots of people said it wasn’t possible – that sharing good ways to walk between places wouldn’t be useful.
Thanks to people from across the country, we’ve drawn an inspiring national network of walking routes. You can walk the length of the country on Slow Ways, and travel from Inverness to Plymouth on routes that have been rated four or five stars.
Thousands of people have contributed. Some have even reviewed over 4,000 km of routes. It’s an incredible collective achievement.
But we need to do better. Too many people are still missing out on active travel and time outdoors simply because they don’t know the best way to go. For some people that means travelling shorter distances; for others it means not even setting off.
We’re launching today’s crowdfunding campaign to help fix that.
We’ve got a plan to make people-powered movement more enjoyable. It’s shaped by lots of walking, reflection, and listening to both our current community and those who haven’t started their Slow Ways journey yet.
If you have walked lots of Slow Ways, please be assured that we will be protecting the core Slow Ways network as its own project that is free for everyone to enjoy and contribute too.
Everything in the plan is about making Slow Ways more inclusive – making it easier for people to enjoy active journeys.
First, we’re going to replace this tired and creaking pilot website. It’s done a great job of getting us to where we are, but we need an online platform – including a website and apps – that’s easy to use, smart, and enjoyable.
Second, we’re going to make it easier for everybody to find, follow, and share routes that match their interests and needs. We’ll do that by developing new features and functionality that enable you to follow the best route for you – and the people you are with.
Third, we’re going to massively extend the network so that it includes shorter, circular routes and the whole of Britain, Ireland, and the Channel Islands. We’ll be connecting more places too, including villages, neighbourhoods, hilltops, community centres, heritage destinations, and more.
Fourth, we’re going to add running, wheeling, cycling, and horse-riding. When we say wheeling, we mean wheelchairs, pushchairs, scooters, and skaters.
For the next one, please take some time to reflect on its potential…
Fifth, we’ll enable community organisations to share routes, route collections, and networks. Imagine if schools, charities, health teams, clubs and groups started sharing routes and networks designed for their communities and audiences. What if schools created nature-rich family-friendly walks? What if off-road wheelchair user groups shared great routes for others to follow in their tracks? And what if dozens of organisations in your local area and thousands across Britain, Ireland and the Channel Islands joined in?
And finally…
Sixth, we’ll ensure that finding, following, and enjoying Slow Ways routes is always free. We’ll also be introducing new Slow Ways memberships to help us continually build better features and functionality, make Slow Ways more sustainable, and include more people. Members will get extra functionality, content, events, and the power to vote on what we develop next.
Of course, we’ve lots more up our sleeves that we’ll reveal later too.
Based on our experience with Slow Ways so far, we are certain that by doing these things we will be able to benefit hundreds of thousands – if not millions – more people, helping them use people power to move and enjoy all the multiple benefits that will generate.
Our crowdfunder will help make this all happen. We will use the funds to build a new website, create new apps, and include millions more people and places.
This is a highly ambitious plan, and we’ll only pull it off if lots more people back our crowdfunder.
Backing the crowdfunder does a number of important things. As well as raising critical funds, it grows the number of people who will both use and contribute to the active networks we are creating. The crowdfunder creates people power – so even making a small contribution and adding to our number of supporters will make a difference.
You can also choose from some great rewards including free individual and organisation memberships that you can keep, gift, or donate. Pick the right rewards and you can get exclusive Slow Ways baseball caps and beanie hats. There’s even an option to get an intergenerational lifetime membership.
You can also choose to sponsor community organisations, villages, towns, or even whole counties. Schools, community groups, charities, councils, health teams, nature groups, and other nonprofits will be able to collaborate on creating and curating routes that best meet the interests and needs of their communities.
We’d love your help to make this all happen.
Here are three ways you can support us:
- 1. Check out and back the crowdfunding campaign – make sure you watch the video!
- 2. Share the crowdfunder with your friends and networks in a message, post or email.
- 3. Sign up to be a fundraiser – you could do a challenge of some kind or simply share the campaign.
There are other ways to get involved too: Forward this email to someone you think will be interested; Come to an online event to find out more; Share this press release with any media friends; Join this month’s National Park Trail Challenge. See our Linktree for more details!
Sound good?
Let’s create something awesome together!
Daniel Raven-Ellison is both Founder and Chief Exploration Officer of Slow Ways. Daniel kick-started Slow Ways in 2020, wanting to make it easier for more people to walk places. Daniel is a former geography teacher, an explorer and a social innovator. Daniel also started the National Park City movement, an effort that has led to London, Adelaide, Breda and Chattanooga all becoming National Park Cities. Daniel loves walking and exploring places. He lives in Exeter, Devon.
