Step out in September with Walking for Health

 

Walk4Life Campaigns - Getting more walkers to step out in September

 

Natural England are working with Change4Life and WalkEngland on a campaign in September to get more people out walking.  Part of this will be a Walk4Life promotion, culminating in Walk4Life National Walking Day on the 26th September 2010.  Walk England are also launching the ‘Walk4Life Miles’ project in mid-September to coincide with a large media campaign being run by ITV in conjunction with the National Walking Day. 

 

Walk4Life National Walking Day - 26 September

Add your walks (regular Sundays & one-off specials for W4L day) to the event calendar via a log in area on the home page http://www.walkevents.org/  (see invitation letter below for password).

 Walk4Life Invitation Letter

Walk4Life 2,012 Miles

The Walk4Life Miles project will deliver 2,012 waymarked one mile walking routes in local communities, as well as provide an online database of short walks. At the heart of the project is a public web portal where people can find walking routes or create their own, record their walking activity, find local events, join groups and challenge themselves and others to walk more.

 

Ahead of the launch in September, WalkEngland are inviting local organisations, communities and individuals to be part of the project by:

• identifying one mile routes that can be waymarked on the ground and added to the site
• sharing their favourite daily short (4 – 5 miles maximum) walking routes for inclusion on the web portal. Health walk schemes could include sections of their existing routes on the site. This would help promote your scheme and attract new walkers.

Guidance on adding routes:  

Here you will find information about the project, guidance on how to identify routes, how to waymark them, how to add routes to the web portal (due to be available during August 2010) and/or share digital route data with WalkEngland. The website will go ‘live’ to the general public on 13th September with the URL www.walk4life.info which will also be the main web address which ITV will be giving out to viewers wanting to find walking opportunities in their local communities.

 

If you would just like to get involved by walking you will be able to find routes on www.walk4life.info. You will also be able to use the site to record your activity, take a walking fitness test, challenge yourself, or others, or form groups and walk together.   

 

 

 

More Walking for Health Info...

 

Key Stats August 2010 - national (Previous report in brackets)  
Accredited Walking Schemes 367 (359)      
Trained Walk Leaders (since 2000) 46,886 (45,680)
Active Walk Leaders (Last 12 months) 11,910 (N/A)   
Regular Walkers National  69,259 (67,211)        
Regular Walkers West Midlands   8,265 (8,270)  

• We have topped one million walk hours recorded on the database, a real landmark figure. There are 81,950 walkers and 636 schemes recorded on our database (note the stats above are REGULAR walkers, not ALL walkers). It really helps us to collect valuable and accurate evidence by schemes using the database but we also rely on collecting accurate manual data from those schemes not using the database so thanks to all of you. 

Moving on - Green Exercise and WFH Progression activities: summary of progression activities and themes from around the country based on survey of 45 schemes.

 

Summary of Progression activity in the regions.pdf

 

Publications

 

Walking for Health: a cost-effective healthcare solution - guidance for Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) on how running a health walk scheme is a low-cost and simple way to improve the health of your communities. 

 

CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) 

 

Faculty of Public Health in association with Natural England The Great Outdoors: How Our Natural Health Service Uses Green Space To Improve Wellbeing,

New FPH mental health report calls for more use of walks in parks to treat mental illness.

 

Jan Tilsley
Walking for Health Lead Advisor (Staffs & Stoke on Trent)
Natural England West Midlands Region
T: 0300 060 0698
M: 07900 608042
E: Jan.Tilsley@naturalengland.org.uk
W: www.naturalengland.org.uk