New resident seeking hiking companions sets up Albany WA Walking Group and quickly attracts 100 members

It started as a way to connect with people in a new city, but Wayne McCartney collected more than 100 new members for a local walking group in less than a fortnight thanks to the power of social media.

His Albany WA Walking Group now has 128 members, several of who joined Mr McCartney for a hike up Mt Clarence on June 29.

It all started with his first Facebook post on June 14, and it has snowballed since then.

Mr McCartney returned to live in Albany to be closer to his daughter and grandchildren after spending 20 years in Queensland.

He said it was his daughter who helped create a Facebook page for local walkers.

“I couldn’t find a group to join so I started a message chat, but my daughter said to try Facebook — I had no idea how to do it, so she set it up,” he said.

“It got to 80 members in a week, which was amazing,” he said.

“It’s at the point where if it’s going to get huge, I will need some help.”

Mr McCartney has organised several walks including a 3km each-way hike at Sandpatch on July 5 and another which is scheduled to take in Stanley Island Lookout via Parry Beach on July 12.

“I would like people to get together and host their own outings because people like to walk in different ways,” he said.

“Some like to take photos, others like the stroll through nature while others like to power on through.

“A lot of people don’t like walking by themselves for safety reasons.

“I just fell into organising this but I’m enjoying giving other people the opportunity to walk in a group.”