All wrapped up: Fix the Fells workers dream of Chrismtmas gifts

What Christmas gift do you buy for the walker who has everything?

If the committed hiker in your life has the latest garish Gore-tex, an all-singing, all-talking GPS receiver and a rucksack full of top gear, where do you start when compiling your letter to Santa? Well, how about a metre of upland path, or a bag of grass seed?

Fix the Fells, the partnership working to repair the Lake District’s rights of way, suggests a range of gift from a bargain path landscaping for £10, to the top-of-the-range one hour helicopter ride at £600 – the catch being that it’s not you who will be making the trip, but bags of stone for path repairs. And £50 will buy that grass seed to repair eroded sections of the Cumbrian mountains.

Fix the Fells admits wrapping these presents might present a problem, so anyone making a donation will receive a gift certificate.

A spokesperson for the project said: “Your gift donation could make someone very happy this Christmas, and help the fells in a way that no pair of socks ever could.”

Fix the Fells is funded mostly by donations. The Heritage Lottery fund adds an extra £2 for every £1 you donate – tripling the value of any gift.

Over 10 million people tread the paths on the Lakeland fells each year, causing wear and tear. The National Trust, Lake District National Park Authority, Friends of the Lake District, Natural England and the Tourism and Conservation Partnership have teamed up in Fix the Fells to combat path erosion and keep our upland areas pleasant places to visit.

Details of how to make a Christmas gift donation are on the Fix the Fells website.