New funding has been secured to protect bridleways for riders and wider communities, the British Horse Society (BHS) has announced.
The charity has signed an agreement with British Equestrian to access funding from Sport England’s partner investment scheme to support its active bridleways project.
The funding will support the delivery of additional bridleway and byway applications across England that are currently missing from the Definitive Map, as well as enabling the training of 20 new Historical Research volunteers.
The in-person training and webinars will be further supported by the development of new online training resources, based on the Restoring the Record programme, to better equip all BHS volunteers both now and in the future.
“I’m extremely pleased to have worked alongside Sport England and BHS to secure funding which will enable this important project to continue for a further 12 months,” said Adam Hughes, Strategic Lead for Relationships at British Equestrian.
“A key focus of this phase is to support the incredible volunteer network to continue identifying, recording and protecting the vital rights of access for equestrians, whilst building their confidence to navigate any potential appeals process with local authorities.”
Will Steel, BHS Head of Access, added: “We’re delighted to have received funding from Sport England for this project, which will enable us to continue to develop and build on the fantastic work of Project 2026.
“Whilst we have made great strides in the past eight years, with over 4,400 applications made across the country, we know there is still a huge amount of research to be done.
“Every route we save is of benefit to vulnerable road users – not just equestrians but also pedestrians and cyclists, and this award will support us to continue our work to safeguard even more routes for the future.”
