About us

The CWA is registered with the Charity Commission as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Being a charity gives the CWA access to a set of tried and tested processes and procedures in decision making, fundraising and financial administration. Members of the public, plus the many bodies the CWA will be interacting with, will have the assurance of knowing that the organisation operates to the very highest standards.

The CWA works closely with the Cotswolds Conservation Board which operates to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the Cotswolds National Landscape a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  The Cotswold Voluntary Wardens are its volunteer arm and implement many of the projects funded by the CWA.

CWA membership is open to everyone – it’s the members who elect the CWA’s Trustees and who are responsible for its major decisions. Our constitution follows the Charity Commission’s “Association” CIO Model in all respects and a copy is available by clicking here.

All of the CWA’s Trustees are currently or have previously been involved in activities associated with the Cotswold Way and other trails in the Cotswolds. From creating guides, maintenance work parties to leading guided walks.

 

  • John Bartram (Chair)

    Member of the Cotswold Voluntary Wardens since 2009 and Head Warden 2014-15. A regular leader of Wardens Walks and organiser of the annual staged walk of the Cotswold Way led by the Cotswold Wardens. After working as a geologist and living overseas for 26 years, he returned to the UK and have since been an active walker of many long distance trails throughout the UK.

  • Malcolm Higgins (Secretary)

    Malcolm served for 21 years in the Royal Navy then left to pursue a business career. He studied at Exeter University and was awarded an MBA. He has also had two patents granted in the UK and overseas. Malcolm joined the CWA as a member in April 2019 and became a volunteer Parish Warden in June 2019.

  • John Tennant

    John is currently Chairman/ General Manager of the Monarchs Way Association, a long-distance trail that intersects the Cotswold Way.

  • Martin Lovegrove

    Martin is a long-standing, active Cotswold Voluntary Warden and most recently served as Head Warden between 2016 and 2018.

  • Clare Muir

    Clare served in the Royal Air Force for 23 years and lives in Fairford. She is happiest outdoors and has a keen interest in conservation. After leaving the Armed Forces in 2019 she worked for the National Trust as an Assistant Director in the Trust’s South West region. Clare left this role in summer 2021 to spend more time with her family and pursue her hobbies and interests. She joined the CWA as a member and Trustee in November 2021

  • Richard Holmes

    Richard has been a keen walker since he was a teenager. He has walked extensively in North Yorkshire, Wales and the Lake District. Apart from the Cotswold Way Richard has also walked the Cleveland Way, most of Offa’s’ Dyke and Hadrian’s Wall. He is currently engaged in promoting, protecting and improving public rights of way in Gloucestershire through his work with the Ramblers and Gloucestershire Local Access Forum. He still has time to go walking and when not in the county often heads for the Brecon Beacons.

  • Martyn Hall

    A long distance path walker and member of the Cotswold Voluntary Wardens since 2017 and Chair of Cotswold Warden Central District for three years until 2023. Martyn is currently active on work parties and is Parish Warden Coordinator for his district.

 

If you’d like to become one of our Trustees, please send brief details about yourself to John Bartram, the CWA chair at info@cotswoldwayassociation.org.uk or, if you’d like to talk things over with him first, call him on 0117 937 4561

Volunteers – the CWA needs you!join-here

Volunteers will always be our lifeblood and the foundation on which the organisation relies. The Trustees are all volunteers and come from volunteering backgrounds.

You could help with:

  • running this interactive website,
  • writing articles for our regular E-Newsletter,
  • helping run CWA’s online shop
  • administering our Fund-a-Footpath schemes,
  • identifying new improvement project on our trails
  • being our ambassador with local stakeholders
  • liaising with similar organisations up and down the country

 

lone-walker
Looking for new horizons?

 

You don’t have to be an active walker to get involved. You can be someone who’s looking for an opportunity to contribute to an exciting new venture – from a couple of hours from time to time or for half a day or a full day each week. You could be retired or you could be a young person looking for work experience.


Business Members

 

Cotswold Walks
HillFarm
Willans Logo New
Cotswold Trail Events
Luggage Transfers in the Cotswolds
St Annes B&B Painswick
Cotswold Distillery
Cotswold Inns & Hotels
Contours Walking Holidays
Go Cotswolds
Mickledore
Stonehouse Court Hotel
Cotswold Cottage Gems
Ian Coley Spoting
Embark Walking Holidays
Brodie Planning Associates

Affiliate Members

 

Winchcombe Walkers are Welcome
Tewkesbury Running Club
Emersons Green Running Club
Dursley Welcomes Walkers
Tewkesbury Walkers
Thornbury Running Club
Team Bath AC
North Gloucestershire Orienteering Club
South Cotswold Ramblers