OUR PEOPLE
An East Kilbride man hopes his latest project can help get youngsters out into the Scottish countryside — and away from the games consoles.
Zain Sehgal, from Jackton, had been looking for some fun activities that his family could all get involved in last year.
He thought that some of kids were happier to stay indoors, playing computer games, rather than going out to see the world.
That’s when Zain and his two cousins came up with Boots and Beards.
The group aims to unite and motivate peoples of all ages as they explore and promote Scotland’s natural landscape within the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) community.
Despite the group only being formed in April this year, they have already been recognised.
Indeed, Zain’s hard work saw him named Volunteer Community Champion of the Year at the Ethnic Minority Impact Awards 2016.
The 29-year-old received his accolade, which is organised by the Forestry Commission Scotland, after he was judged to have made a difference to the lives of people in Scotland.
He can’t believe the appetite there has been for the Boots and Beards project — and hopes he is helping people enjoy the outdoors.
“We started off unofficially last year,” he said, “all the guys would just meet up and go out and get the kids involved because we wanted to get out to see the countryside.
“We saw with our own families that as soon as the weather was bad, the kids would sit in and put the Xbox or put the iPad on.
“There wasn’t much engagement there between the families and with the kids so we came up with almost a ‘dads and lads’ kind of thing and got out in the community.
“We started posting to various social networks and people really loved the idea of it – so this year we decided to formally launch the group.
“We have had some great support and want to cater to as many people as possible.
“We want to use hill-walking to bring people together, to get people out and about, increase fitness levels, de-stress, and improve overall wellbeing.
“It’s been phenomenal so far – there’s a lot out there to do and a lot of support you can find if you want to start something like this.”
Zain, although a keen cyclist, admits he is still learning the ropes when it comes to hill-walking.
He is discovering new places and says that the outskirts of Jackton, near Peel Park, is one of his favourite areas in East Kilbride.
“I’m into cycling quite a lot so this is still quite new to me,” Zain said.
“Now that I’m getting into hillwalking I actually enjoy it more.
“It’s probably the maintenance aspect as well — you can just get up and go rather than have to look after your bike.
“We have all managed to learn first-aid training, learned how to build tents and lots of other outdoors stuff.
“Recently, we have been awarded money which allows us to keep going until March next year. “A lot of work has gone into it!” The next big trip for Zain will be on Chirstmas Day with family and friends, and although still in the planning stage, he admits he wants to have a festive feast and really hit the heights.
“We have started slow and haven’t taken on any huge hills,” he revealed. “But we’re planning a walk on Christmas Day so we might go all out for that.
“We will see what we can do – and I think we will have a feast at the top no matter what.”
We saw with our own families that as soon as the weather was bad, the kids would just go and put the Xbox or iPad on