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5th June 2008

North country coastal path wins RIAS ‘Favourite Walk’ competition

Every walk tells a story, at least that was the premise behind the RIAS ‘Favourite Walks’ competition set in May. Inspiration for the contest was provided by the RIAS sponsored National Trust walks, set in some of the most spectacular locations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and available to all. The lure of healthy exercise, a National Trust holiday cottage worth up to £1000 as the prize, and a chance to impress the judges with a spot of creative writing, meant there were plenty of entries. Walkers of all ages rose to the challenge of describing their favourite walk and the winner, selected by a panel of RIAS and NT judges, was Julia Rand from Newcastle upon Tyne, whose evocative account of a north country coastal walk scored her full marks and high praise.

Julia, who is in her early 50s and is a conversation and wildlife enthusiast, chose the Craster to Low Newton coastal path in Northumberland as her favourite place for a ramble. According to Julia, its appeal lay as much in the many points of wildlife and plant interest along the way as in the spectacular scenery. “I certainly had an excellent time doing the walk, and am very excited about winning. How delightful to be able to look forward to a lovely break where more walking will be possible,” Julia told RIAS. “I hope my description of this beautiful walk will inspire others to try it.”

The National Trust Conservation Warden for the Northumberland coast, Kevin Redgrave, said: "I'd have to agree with Julia, this is a great walk. It's so full of contrasts, especially in the summer, when nature is at its most vibrant. It’s an historic landscape, but one in which the wildlife and water always dominate your senses... whether its the breeding birds, colourful wildflower displays or lapping of waves on the beach." “The standard of entries for this competition was extremely high, and we are really pleased that so many people seem to be enjoying these lovely walks,” says RIAS Managing Director Janet Connor. “I particularly liked the account of the walk at Brownsea Island which is not far from the RIAS headquarters in Bournemouth, and one I now intend to try myself!”

Special mention goes to entries from Ray Butler of Kent for his tale of his son Charlie’s crow-spotting at Seven Sisters on the South Downs, and to Claire Simmonds, Wiltshire, for her superb description of the family’s Woodchester Park walk in Gloucestershire.

The winning entry, and a selection of others, will be available to read on the National Trust website at www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Winning walk: 4 good reasons to try the National Trust’s Craster to Low Newton walk:

• It’s about to be the brightest and most spectacular time of the year for wildflowers - spot cowslips in grassy verges and look out for orchids in the sand dunes. The hay meadow at Newton Point (the north-most bit of the walk) is in full bloom at the moment.

• The cliffs at the north side of Dunstanburgh Castle are currently alive with nesting seabird like kittiwake and fulmar, plus the occasional guillemot, shag and cormorant. In the next month the kittiwake, who make their nests on tiny precipitous ledges will hatch out their chicks! Watch them fishing for and feeding their young little fish called sand eels.

• Big project to restore hedgerow along the route of this walk near the golf course - 1000 hawthorn, blackthorn and other bushes have been planted this spring. They'll improve the habitat for wildlife, by creating a corridor for small creatures like frogs, toads and mice, singing posts, homes and nests for songbirds like stonechat, yellowhammer, linnet and dunnock.

• 1 and a half miles further north along the coast path at Beadnell Bay and Newton Links is the Long Nanny colony for little tern and Arctic tern. These seabirds nest on the sand and are monitored 24 hours a day by National Trust wardens. Visitors can get a rare close up look from 7.30am to 7.30pm every day for the next couple of months by coming to our wildlife hide in the sand dunes.

NOTE about the RIAS sponsorship of the National Trust Walks Programme:

RIAS, insurance specialists for the over 50s, sponsors the National Trust walks which are set in some of the most spectacular locations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The aim of the programme is to promote the National Trust walks for the benefit of all. Details of all the easily accessible pathways and trails are downloadable for free from the National Trust website at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/walks and every one comes with simple directions, an easy to read map and details of what to look out for on the way. The walks are also graded for length and difficulty and access to most of them are free of charge. There are more than 70 walks in the programme already, with many more being added all the time.

Janet Connor, Managing Director of RIAS is available for further comment and interview. To arrange an interview with, or photography of, Janet, please call Sadie Sheppard on 01202 254489 or e-mail ssheppard@rias.co.uk

About RIAS

• RIAS was established in 1992 and is a specialist provider of insurance products for the over 50s age group

• RIAS negotiates with a panel of insurers to secure competitive, value for money products

• RIAS has over 970,000 customers and employs over 1,200 people across two locations - Bournemouth and Belfast

• In July 2007 RIAS’ home insurance contents and buildings policies received four ‘Best Buy’ awards from Which? magazine · In December 2007 RIAS won the ‘Personal Lines Broker of the year” award at the Insurance Times awards

RIAS is part of Fortis (Insurance UK), a leading provider of award-winning personal and commercial lines insurance solutions in the UK and the 2007 British Insurance Awards 'General Insurer of the Year'. The insurer's successful customer-centric strategy has been founded on aligning its activities to how customers want to buy insurance, combined with delivering high quality products, manufactured at costs better than market norms.

Fortis's unique multi-distribution capability enables it to deliver products face-to-face, by phone (inbound and outbound), over the Internet and via SMS technology. Aligning its business activities with its partners' general insurance strategies enables Fortis to offer end-to-end white label capabilities in product development, marketing, campaign management, sales, fulfilment and claims - providing a seamless integration with partner brands. Insuring in excess of 6.8 million customers and working with a range of partners, Fortis is recognised for delivering consistent and high-quality customer experiences. It employs 2,901 people as of 31/12/07 with a head office based in Eastleigh and others in Belfast, Bournemouth, Gloucester, Haywards Heath, Redditch, and Stoke-on-Trent. In 2007, its profit before tax and interest (excluding impact of weather related events) was £92.2 million and its GWP was 757.8 million.

For further information please contact:

Sadie Sheppard RIAS Public Relations 01202 254489 ssheppard@rias.co.uk

www.rias.co.uk