Do you want to help out the communities in a practical way? We have a volunteer winter gritting team who help grit the pavements each winter.

Why should you help?

Our neighbourhood (Stockethill/Rosehill/Cornhill/Ashgrove) has been flagged by NHS Grampian as somewhere where lots of icy falls happen. Ashgrove and Stockethill Community council have places 28 one tonne bags of grit around the area and have 10 push gritters to spread this grit on our pavements.

Not all residents are fit and well enough to grit their own paths, and for them the injuries from falls can be life-changing. This means they are often housebound during extended periods of ice and snow.

To help keep our community out and about, Ashgrove and Stockethill Community Council have a gritting team who operate push gritters, treating large stretches of path quickly and efficiently. We have a WhatsApp group so we can advise when is a good time to grit (before the freeze!), and allows you to let us know when you're going out and are back safely. There will be no requirement to go out in bad conditions. Just help out when you have time/feel able.

Does it make a difference?

During winter 23-24 we were part of a pilot project funded by NHS Grampian - to see if preemptive gritting helped reduce the numbers of falls in the area. Each fall has a significant personal cost to the victim, and monetary cost to the NHS. The NHS analysis show we did indeed make a difference saving significant amounts of money and preventing numerous injuries.

How much commitment is involved?

We appreciate any help you can give - even if you just want to sign up to get notifications of when to grit your own stretch of path in a timely manner.

Full training and PPE is provided (gloves/high viz etc).

A fantatsic opportunity to help make a difference during wintertime for people and the community. For more information please contact Fiona Meade, Winter Resilience Coordinator at email: ascomcouncil@gmail.com‍

Further details are also available at https://www.ascomcouncil.org.uk/ and https://www.ascomcouncil.org.uk/winter