Award-winning writer Sawsan joins Scope volunteers on a walk from Colwyn Bay, where natural beauty and social deprivation coexist awkwardly
This story is part of our Tales from a Slow Way series, funded by the Pilgrim Trust. Each ‘Tales’ award includes a donation to the organisation as well as a project fee to the creative. Sawsan’s project donation went to Scope, a disability charity in England and Wales that campaigns to change negative attitudes about disability, provides direct services, and educates the public.
The first warm sunshine of the year has drawn hundreds of locals and tourists onto the Llwybr Arfordir Cymru, the Wales Coast Path, the first coastal path in the world to cover an entire nation’s coastline.
Some walk out towards the retreating, shimmering tide. Others stroll along the prom, an iconic feature of the Victorian leisure culture which made towns like Colwyn Bay popular destinations. Among them are a group of volunteers from the beloved Scope charity shop in the town centre. They frequently walk the local area, in the past as a fundraising activity, now socially. The sun is so high that the group barely casts a shadow.
“It’s very important for people of all walks of life to get outside,” says Ian, a long-term volunteer at the shop. “It doesn’t matter your age. As long as you’re able, you should be able to walk. I think it’s important for the community.”
Around 200 Scope charity shops in the UK rely on volunteers like Ian to sort through hundreds of bags of donations each week, ensuring high quality items including clothes are made more accessible to people who may not be able to afford new goods, or who want to support good causes. Scope, a disability equality charity, provides practical information and emotional support to disabled people and delivers campaigns to create a fairer society.
“Scope is like my second family,” he says. “That’s how I look at it. It’s not just volunteering. You’ve got a group of friends and a lot of people you do stuff with and I want to support Ruth, of course. Both Ruth and Nicky are brilliant managers and I wouldn’t want to work for anybody else. I don’t think I’ve ever worked for anybody as good as them two.”
Today, Ian is one of those leading the charge away from the shop and onto Colabe one, an 11km ribbon-like stretch along the Llwybr on the coast of North Wales. The route, which connects Bae Colwyn to Abergele, is smooth and wide with substantial space along much of it for people to walk and use their mobility scooters, wheelchairs and pushchairs side by side. Tactile paving has been laid throughout where pedestrian crossings lead inland and the seafront path is free of steps, enabling everyone to enjoy the route at their own pace. Ground markings on the cycle path are damaged at points, causing some confusion and hilarity between the Scope group and cyclists who are unsure which side belongs to whom.
“It’s a beautiful part of the country and it’s nice for us to get out of the shop for once, out of the dust and clothes and sorting and to do something totally different”
Best friends Ruth and Nicky have managed the Scope Colwyn Bay charity shop for ten and eight years respectively. Together, they have transformed the shop into a local landmark.
“We’ve become a family in Scope,” says Ruth. “We all look out for each other and we’re such a diverse group of people. We all enjoy walking together. It’s something local and we see people as we pass by who wish us well and say hello to us.”
Right on cue, the group are stopped by a passerby for a chat.
“A lot of the people that volunteer with us are alone and so they’ve become part of the shop’s family and it’s nice for them to do something they wouldn’t normally do,” Ruth continues. “Some people do walk in the area but a lot of them don’t and stay indoors. They learn a little bit on the route about where we are in the scheme of things and what’s where around Colwyn Bay. It’s a beautiful part of the country and it’s nice for us to get out of the shop for once, out of the dust and clothes and sorting and to do something totally different.”
Sam, who began volunteering at Scope following a difficult period in her life, pauses to look out at the glittering Irish Sea. We peer down at mounds of boulders and black seaweed upon which blue mussels, limpets and crabs are glinting. The paradox of Colwyn Bay is that it is an idyll shrouded in hardship. Between the golden beachfront and the plush hills is a town struggling to cope with a protracted housing crisis, drug misuse, widespread mental illness and poverty caused by limited, poorly paid and precarious work. Sam believes the shop plays a vital role in closing the gap for the local community.
The paradox of Colwyn Bay is that it is an idyll shrouded in hardship
“Approximately ten years ago, I was struggling with direction,” shares Sam. “I’d come out of a long term relationship and it was pretty fraught and I thought ‘I’m going to go and volunteer. I’m going to do something that is outside myself, take myself out of me and stop ruminating… Colwyn Bay’s quite a deprived area. Socioeconomic success is limited. There’s a lot of deprivation. So to be surrounded by all this natural beauty and have that level of deprivation can sometimes be a bit shocking but I love the fact that we can step out of that environment in the town and be surrounded by all this natural beauty. It’s a form of escapism.”
“Scope is such a well-loved part of the local community. People struggle to make ends meet and good quality second-hand goods really are desired. Local people come in and they know Ruth and other members of staff by name and I think it’s a really integral part of the community. We have a pool of around 32 volunteers in total and they’re all from the local area. I am so grateful for the shop and everybody’s support over the last ten years, to be part of something bigger than me. We neglect to appreciate just how beautiful our local area is so it’s nice to be out in it. I think the walks are so valuable for team morale. It’s for the charity, of course, but it’s getting us outdoors together, enjoying nature and our surroundings.”
he has become a town icon for his annual long-distance bike ride, which he does on a static bike outside the shop while dressed in a Batman costume
Volunteer George is well known in Colwyn Bay for his committed fundraising efforts. In particular, he has become a town icon for his annual long-distance bike ride, which he does on a static bike outside the shop while dressed in a Batman costume.
“I love raising money on the bike and all the cycling I do,” says George. “It’s a lovely feeling and all the people around here are so kind with the donations. It makes me feel really good inside. I enjoy walking because it’s lovely scenery in North Wales. It’s very beautiful. I love my friends and the atmosphere in Scope.”
Volunteer and expert seamstress Janet feels the same. “I like coming to the shop because they’re a nice bunch of people. It’s doing a good thing and paying back the community, and I enjoy walking with the group. I enjoy the social aspect, chatting to everyone and doing something for a good cause.”
“It’s always good to come in and do a shift,” adds Phil, a volunteer of over six years. “It’s camaraderie, basically, and it’s so good to see everyone. In the past couple of years’ sponsored walks, I was able to get a sponsorship of over £215 each year and I was really chuffed because it’s such a good cause and it’s a fair sum of money. I enjoy doing the walks. It’s good to get out and raise awareness of Scope.”
Phil points northeast to Gwynt Y Môr, the expansive wind farm in Liverpool Bay, which is often concealed by sea fog. A flock of seagulls wheels overhead, hoping for a catch, but a fleet of speedboats spoils their chances, sending seaspray in all directions and obscuring from view anything that might have been swimming beneath the surface. The group stops a moment to watch the boats skirt the shallows.
“It’s so vital that people have accessible walks and know where they are. It’s so helpful for your wellbeing and your mind”
Vanessa, who teaches children with dyslexia, volunteers on Sundays when fewer volunteers are available than on weekdays. Among other tasks, she prepares bundles of baby clothes. Social activities like walking provide a precious opportunity for the shop’s many volunteers, who may not be at the shop on the same days, to get to know each other.
“I think the group is amazing because it’s so diverse,” she says. “It’s interesting for me because it’s so different from what I do normally that I just find it fascinating. I think people like to have that contact with different kinds of people. It brings a different perspective on life. Five or ten minutes of a walk just gives the volunteers that time to chat and get to know each other because you don’t always know people that well. I think it’s so vital that people have accessible walks and know where they are. It’s so helpful for your wellbeing and your mind to go for a walk to keep yourself ticking over otherwise you get static and you don’t want to move. When people do it, they feel much better having done it, so I think encouraging people to get out more is fantastic.”
The staff and volunteers of Scope Colwyn Bay arrive, at last, for a picnic on the south-facing slope of Penmaen Head; many share photos on their phones of the Aurora Borealis, which had appeared over North Wales the night before. Evidently, most people in the group had missed the show but they all agree that this patch of coast, with its limited light pollution, is a beautiful spot for stargazing. Above the group a free climber ascends a sheer, exposed rock face. Sam approaches the base, marvelling at the climber’s skill and bravery.
“Walking’s such an accessible form of exercise,” she observes. “There’s no prerequisite. You don’t have to have any special skill. There’s no sportsmanship attached to it. You can just put your shoes on and go. It’s very freeing to do that.”
Scope uses the social model of disability, which affirms that people are disabled by barriers in society and not by their impairments or differences. Both physical barriers such as stairs and societal barriers such as people’s attitudes towards other people can be disabling. Removing these barriers creates equality, mobility, independence and freedom for disabled people. Shop co-manager Ruth believes that initiatives like Slow Ways are crucial for providing the practical information and support for disabled people to participate equitably in enjoyable local activities.
“For us, it’s important for people to know where there are accessible walks nearby. We need routes that are accessible because a lot of people here have issues of various kinds, not all disabilities but issues, so we need to be close to bus routes and on accessible paths. The walks we do, maybe they’ll do them again by themselves or with family and friends. It’s a really important thing to be able to walk safely in your own area and to enjoy it. People always think you have to go away to enjoy something but you don’t. We’ve got it all here on our doorstep.”
Last year we launched ‘Tales from a Slow Way’, a community stories initiative that enabled us to commission creatives and community groups to work together to produce original stories and content situated around Slow Ways walking routes. Each award included a donation to the organisation as well as a project fee to the creative.
Together, the awarded projects map the sheer diversity of walkers across the UK and highlight the importance of forging new paths.
Click here to find out more about our Tales from a Slow Ways project. Why not sign up to walk and review Slow Ways. You can also find and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.