Volunteering with DLYW

This page contains more information on ways you can volunteer as a part of the Don’t Lose Your Way project.  

Please note that volunteering on Don’t Lose Your Way will not involve walking the potential lost ways identified through the project. They are not currently recognised as public rights of way, and therefore we would not encourage you to go out and walk them (although some of them may be routes you walk already!). 

Volunteering on the project may be held up due to restrictions on activity and travel – while this will prevent face to face training and visits to archives, we still plan to deliver training to support with those and other aspects of the roles. 

Researcher

In the years leading up to 2026, more volunteers will be needed to put together applications to save lost rights of way. This volunteering will involve interpreting and presenting historical evidence to make a case that a particular lost right of way was historically considered a public right of way.  If you sign up for this role we will give you guidance, resources and training that will help you to find, understand and present the historical data. 

You will be able to sign up for this role later in 2021, when we will begin introducing more guidance and resources to support you in researching and presenting applications for lost rights of way to be added to definitive maps. If you would like to be updated when this role is live, sign up to our updates here.

Local coordinator

Team Coordinators help drive local activity, making everyone feel involved and giving Don't Lose Your Way the best chance of success in the local area. They will alsonurture links with local highway authorityand liaise with other key local Ramblers' volunteers to make sure Don't Lose Your Way activity fits in with other local work, linking in with a coherent local strategy for working with the authority.

Those in this role will work closely with central office staff and other local volunteers and have a chance to contribute to the future of the role and the project.

This role is for individuals who are confident that they would be able to oversee DLYW efforts in a highway authority area. The full listing, including the application process, is on our volunteering website here: England and Wales 

National Archive researcher

This role is for individuals who would be able to visit the National Archives in Kew, as part of the project to digitise documents that will be used by the DLYW community in their applications and research. Due to access to the archives being limited due to the pandemic, this role will be recruited for later in 2021.

If you would like to be updated when this role is live, sign up to our updates here.

 

Other ways you can support the project 

For those who want to support the project, but who won’t be able to volunteer, it is possible to do so by donating to the project here.

As the project evolves from this year to 2026, we will update this page to reflect any more volunteering opportunities that arise.