Cumnock Faerie Trail: Action Plan success at Woodroad park

Running until August 21, the team created the trail to run through the Templand Wood walk at the Woodroad Park.

It includes faerie garden design, stone stacking, writing your name in Faerie language and each stop along the route has a verse of a poem to be completed at the end.

Following on from the success of last year's trail, the action plan team worked hard to make this year's even bigger and better.

Their efforts included applying for and getting funding from Arnold Clark's Community Grant fund.

Cumnock Action Plan's work

However, the team had to work through a mejor setback at the start, when the trail was vandalised shortly after opening originally.

Deflated but not defeated, the team rallied to put the trail back together and ensure kids and adults could get all the fun from the trail they possibly could while the schools are still off.

Helen Ng from the Cumnock Action Plan said: "It was difficult for us when it got vandalised because we had put so much work into it, but we made sure we weren't going to defeated by this, so we got together and we made sure the trail was good to go again.

"Last year's one was literally home made with everything by volunteers making their own stuff.

"Everybody loved it doing that way, but we wanted make it even bigger and better this year.

The magic in the trail

"We want people to get used to it being there every year so that more people can get involved it, and maybe more people in to help and then we can keep growing it every year.

"The logs are very heavy to carry up the trail, so that was annoying for us because we're all over 60 and then we had to carry these things up and down the hill and then it to be vandalised and then having to do it all again was very frustrating.

"Some people said 'oh, what's the point in doing it again if it's going to get vandalised again', but we always thought we'd keep trying because we didn't want the kids to lose out on what they've been able to experience."

Cumnock Action Plan

Helen added: "We always want to show the positive sides of what's going on in Cumnock.

"There are so many good things happening with the trail, we've had the Armitage drive opening and we're soon going to have the Tower Street park opening.

"The feedback we've had already about the Faerie Trail has been incredible and it just makes us proud and grateful about the work all of us have put into it.

"There are a lot more people looking to do good things in Cumnock than there are people looking to do it harm, so I think that should be highlighted and celebrated."