Lisa Duff and her son Reuben, along with some friends, have launched Lochmaben Rocks – an outdoor treasure hunting game designed to get people out and about and enjoying the area.
The first painted pebbles, with a Valentine’s theme, have now been stashed around Lochmaben ready for people to find.
Explaining the idea, Lisa said: “My friend Emma was looking for an activity for herself, a friend and their children during half term, but there didn’t appear to be much on.
“I asked if she had seen the Dumfries Rocks Facebook page as I had thought about setting one up for Lochmaben and discovered that Emma had been thinking the same.”
Dumfries Rocks was set up last month and already lots of families have been out hunting for the treasures.
Lisa and five-year-old Reuben love geocaching, a GPS-based real-life treasure hunt, but found it dif cult to get other people interested and so turned to ‘rocks’.
She said: “I felt this is more inclusive for everyone and is really a double activity as you get the pleasure of the decorating then the excitement of hide and seek with the decorated stones.
“Anyone can get involved.
“In fact, another reason we thought it would be successful within Lochmaben was due to the great variety of groups that exist within the community, from Lochmaben Little People to the SWRI, the guild, the Friendship Group, Men’s Shed, to the school nursery and Jaybees.
“It really is an activity for everyone to enjoy regardless of age and I would encourage the whole family to get involved with decorating the stones.”
Stones can be decorated in various ways – acrylic paint that won’t wash off or sealed with a coat of PVA glue – and should include #lochmabenrocks and your name on the back so if the photo nds its way to Facebook you can trace it.
Lisa added: “If you find a rock it’s entirely up to you whether you keep it, put it back or take it on its travels.
“The choice really is yours.
“We thought with the Easter holidays just six weeks away it would be perfect timing for locals to take their stones on a wee trip too and see how far afield we can put Lochmaben on the map.”
