WalkNI marks 20th birthday with special riverside 'Walk Together' in Portglenone
Northern Ireland’s most popular walking website, WalkNI.com, has turned 20, and the anniversary celebrations came to a close with a special birthday Walk Together event on the banks of the River Bann.
More than 30 walkers joined the WalkNI team and website sponsors Barista Bar at Portglenone’s Fisherman’s Walk on Saturday, September 19, for a relaxed and sociable morning along the riverside trail.
The Chair of Mid Ulster District Council, Councillor Deirdre Varsani, was among those who came along to mark the occasion.
Walk Together is an initiative of WalkNI and Barista Bar, designed to get people out on local walks that are social, scenic and fun. The series has visited locations across Northern Ireland throughout WalkNI’s anniversary year, and the walk rounded off the celebrations with sunshine, good company and a free Barista Bar coffee for everyone who took part; as well as some birthday cake!
WalkNI.com first went live on September 23 2006, at a time when Facebook had only just opened to the public and the iPhone had yet to be launched.
Twenty years on, the website features almost 1,000 walks across every county in Northern Ireland and is used by hundreds of thousands of people every year.
Councillor Deirdre Varsani, Chair of Mid Ulster District Council, said: "It was a real pleasure to join so many walkers at the Fisherman’s Walk on Saturday. My theme as Chair this year is ‘le chéile’, meaning ‘together’, so an event called Walk Together could hardly have been a better fit!
“I have seen first-hand how important websites like WalkNI are in helping people discover the walks right on their doorstep and get out and active. Mid Ulster is home to some wonderful walking, and anything that makes it easier for people to get outdoors, whether for their health, their wellbeing or simply to spend time with others, is well worth celebrating. Congratulations to WalkNI on reaching 20 years.”
Rachel Martin, Assistant Brand Manager for Barista Bar, said: "We’ve been proud to sponsor WalkNI for the past five years, and it’s been brilliant to be part of such a special anniversary. At Barista Bar we’re passionate about great coffee, but we’re just as passionate about helping people get more active, and there’s no better combination than a good walk followed by a great cup of coffee.
“Walk Together brings people from all walks of life together, and seeing so many new and familiar faces on Saturday was the perfect way to celebrate. Happy 20th birthday, WalkNI!”
Ethan Loughrey, Marketing Executive at Outscape, which manages WalkNI, said: "Twenty years is a huge milestone for a small website. When WalkNI launched in 2006, a Northern Ireland-based website dedicated to walking was a real novelty, and the idea was simple: help people find the walks on their doorstep. Since then it has grown to feature almost 1,000 routes, helped millions of people get outdoors, and now reaches hundreds of thousands of people every year. Saturday was a lovely way to mark the occasion, and I’d like to thank everyone who joined us, Councillor Varsani for coming along, and our friends at Barista Bar for their fantastic support. Here’s to the next twenty years.”