Looking for UK trail contacts for research

[Smiley2012]

Hey WB!

I'm currently writing a proposal for a travel grant (I'm a US college senior) that would allow me to take a year off and hike some of the greatest trails in the world. I plan to spend about a month and a half in the UK hiking the Pennine way, some of the Scottish trails, and possibly the new trail in Wales. However, the application requires that I establish contacts for each place. I also plan to do some trail maintenance or volunteer work for a few weeks at the end of each hike.

SO I was wondering: Does anyone know of a good way to get temporarily involved with a trail in the UK? I'd be interested in trail maintenance, construction, conservation work, promotional activities, or really anything worth doing that would allow me to interact with the trail. Who should I get in touch with?

Thanks a million,
Smiley

[cymru]

You could try http://www.ramblers.org.uk/, it has links to all of the local hiking groups.