Doug

Just a thought for Kenny and other committee members regarding a sponsor to replace Scottish Leader. Have you thought of approaching Houston Brewing Company? They are a young company forging a good reputation for fine ales and Johnstone Wheelers may be a good 'fit' for them as an advertising medium.

Thanks for this information Dave. Hopefully this will bring about a big improvement to this section. Has anyone checked out the section from Paisley Canal railway station out past the pub/restaurant recently? It was a mess when I last checked it out about 5 or 6 weeks ago.

Peter, Thanks for your comment about the Beith to Linwood section. Can you phone me about this please on 0141.583.4732 so that I can get more information from you.

Tony, You are exactly correct with your location and description of that locus at Paisley Canal Street station. However, it won't take too long to tidy that section with a few dozen people. Alan, The whole point of the Church 'Helping Hands Day' is to mobilise as many volunteers as possible throughout the UK for that special day of community service. I expect to have at least 400 make themselves available throughout Scotland. My idea, discussed with Sustrans, was to work on the various sections of track which needed attention in all regions of Scotland. However, I'm discovering that there are several areas where there are no complaints about the condition of the track. Again, there are sections which seem to attract debris and overgrown bushes are a problem such as the River Kelvin walkway which we've tackled with about 40 volunteers for each of the last two years making a massive difference on each occasion. However, in light of the lack of suitable projects on the Sustrans track (or lack of identification of cycle track needing attention) then I will have to re-think the project for those areas where the track appears to be in good condition.

Thanks for your input Alan - it's much appreciated. I began discussions with Sustrans several months ago. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in addition to many local community service initiatives which are undertaken, have an annual "Helping Hands Day" when members throughout the whole country are encouraged to be involved in a community service project. LDS Church leaders in Scotland have a desire for a project which would be Scotland-wide and I came up with the idea of Sustrans cycle routes, after discussions with many other National charities eg National Trust, Woodlands Trust, Marine Conservation Society, etc. etc. The idea was that we would tackle a clean-up programme on those parts of the cycle routes which were identified as needed attention. I realise that local authorities have some responsibilities for the track, and there are, as you rightly say, Sustrans 'wardens' to monitor the cycle routes. Sustrans themselves suggested a few locations throughout Scotland - one of which was the area at Canal Street Station, Paisley - but, considering I have LDS Church members from Thurso to Stranraer and Dumfries to Aberdeen I have a potential workforce of about 400 able-bodied people to make an impact of some worth. However, from what I'm being fed back, contrary to what Sustrans told me, the problems are nothing like what I'd been led to believe. I wish I had contact people in cycling clubs the length & breadth of Scotland who would ride the various routes as part of their training schedule - or simply for fun - and would report back to me problems on the routes. I am having great difficulty getting this information from our LDS congregations (what does that say about their involvement with cycling?). It may be that I now have to reconsider our Scotland-wide comunity service projects. The date designated for Helping Hands Day this year is Saturday, 23 September. This is the date for such projects throughout the UK and western Europe. The LDS Church was possibly the single biggest contributor to the annual 'Make a Difference Day' which is always on the last Saturday of October. However, now we have our own "Helping Hands Day", most of our manpower is expended that day. The whole idea is do be engaged in service projects which will really make a difference to the community, be fulfilling for those volunteers involved, and hopefully be of lasting worth. The projects ideally will be in centres of population to allow us to advertise for local people to join us in volunteering their time and talents on specific projects. If you have any suggestions as to projects which will fit the bill please let me know.

Thanks Steve H. for your input. It seems that the Sustrans cycle routes are in far better condition than I was led to believe. Reports coming back from south Ayrshire say there are no problems with overgrown bushes, or dangerous litter. Please keep monitoring.

Thanks for your input Steve. Can you tell me what length of track you are talking about in each case and how long you think it would take a group of about a dozen to put right insofar as debris is concerned? Would the volunteers need anything other than workgloves and rubbish sacks to deal with it? Doug

Hi Guys, I wonder if anyone would be willing to help out. In my capacity as a church worker, I'm organising a community service environmental clean-up of Sustrans cycle tracks throughout Scotland on Sept.23, 2006 and am seeking to ascertain parts of the cycle tracks which require attention - perhaps due to glass and paper litter, overgrown shrubs or other debris which prevents a pleasant cycle ride. I'm trying to get other guys to check other areas of the country, but would be delighted to get some Wheelers volunteers to ride the Sustrans cycle tracks from Paisley Canal Station out through Johnstone/Linwood to its end and let me know what sections of the track need cleaned up. I need to know location/approx. length of track to be cleaned/estimate of how long it would take for say 12 volunteers top clean/ type of debris and if it can be bagged or requires a skip. I'm also very keen to have the cycle tracks in Inverclyde and Ayrshire checked out. Is anyone prepared to cycle any of the Sustrans tracks and report back to me as to their condition? The idea is to improve cycle ways throughout Scotland on this special day of Church action for members throughout Scotland. Phone me on 0780 168 5267 for further details.