Scottish Natural Heritage CEO to Cycle through Dumfries & Galloway

From 29 May – 01 June, Francesca will visit SNH offices at Ayr, Newton Stewart, and Dumfries. She will also meet with the Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership and Galloway Fisheries Trust, see Belleisle and Rozelle Parks with South Ayrshire’s Active Travel Hub, and visit Cairnsmore of Fleet and Caerlaverock National Nature Reserves (NNRs). The week will culminate with her attendance at Scotland’s Moorland Forum Summer Meeting.

Part of her cycle route will take Francesca along the Red Kite Trail. Visitors to the trail can often see the local Red Kite population, including at a feeding station where many of the birds flock.

Throughout the seven legs of her cycle challenge, Francesca will visit all of SNH’s offices and a number of nature reserves to meet as many of SNH’s 723 staff as she can, and experience hands-on places and projects doing key work to protect the natural environment in Scotland and help people connect to nature.

Explaining the reasons for her journey, Francesca said: “Even before I started working for SNH, I was fascinated by the geographical spread of our offices. As soon as I was appointed CEO, I knew I wanted to meet all our staff – and, as a keen cyclist, it wasn’t long before I shared my idea of cycling to each location.

“SNH’s aim is to connect people with nature, and I hope to be an exemplar of that during my cycle. #CycleforNature also fits well with my personal desire to promote physical activity in the workplace, and I encourage all SNH staff interested to join me for their local leg.”

Francesca’s full schedule for the week will be:

• 29 May: Ayr
• 30 May: Newton Stewart, Cairnsmore of Fleet NRR, New Galloway
• 31 May: Dumfries, Carlaverock NNR
• 01 June: Carsphairn

Throughout her cycle, Francesca will be blogging and tweeting with the aim of encouraging people to be active in nature using the hashtag #cyclefornature. She will also be raising funds for the Scottish Association for Mental Health through a Just Giving page, a charity voted on by SNH staff.

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Media Contacts:

For media queries, please contact Carrie Wieteska, carrie.wieteska@snh.gov.uk / 0131 316 2631 or Dominic Shann, Dominic.shann@snh.gov.uk / 0146 372 5157

Notes to Editor:

Media are invited to meet with Francesca during any point of her journey. #CycleforNature is divided into seven legs of five days each:

• Leg 1 – w/c 12 March: Galashiels, Edinburgh, Hamilton, Clydebank, Dunnon
• Leg 2 – w/c 9 April: Rum, Skye, Stornoway, Ullapool, Kinlochewe
• Leg 3 – w/c 29 May: Ayr, Newton Stewart, Cairnsmore of Fleet, Dumfries
• Leg 4 – w/c 11 June: Stirling, Loch Leven, Cupar, Battleby
• Leg 5 – w/c 16 July: Aviemore, Muir of Dinnet, St Cyrus, Aberdeen, Forvie, Elgin
• Leg 6 – w/c 13 August: Islay, Lochgilphead, Oban, Fort William, Creag Meagaidh
• Leg 7 – w/c 8 October: Lerwick, Kirkwall, Golspie, Dingwall, Inverness

Scottish Natural Heritage is the government's adviser on all aspects of nature and landscape across Scotland. Our role is to help everyone understand, value and enjoy Scotland's nature now and in the future. For more information, visit our website at www.nature.scot. SNH is also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nature_scot