Natural England

Walk your way to health in Nottinghamshire - Natural England's 'Walking the Way to Health Initiative' (WHI) is celebrating a snowball success this month, having trained an impressive 30,000 volunteer walk leaders across four hundred and fifty walking schemes nationwide.

People are able to step out on walks across England, thanks to the dedication of WHI volunteers who are helping people recovering from illness or injury, who want to lose weight or those who just want to stay fit the natural way by getting out and about in the natural environment.

In Nottinghamshire there are many walks for people to join, including Best Foot Forward, a scheme in Nottingham city. The project began in April 2004, with the aim of setting up a weekly, guided health walk to provide a free opportunity to local people to benefit their health, make friends and have fun. The success of the scheme has led to more walks being developed. Currently there are eight on offer in the city alone, with plans to develop more in 2007.

Sandra Messam, from Hyson Green, has suffered from depression all her life, and a nurse at her local health centre recommended that she join a walking scheme. Sandra now walks regularly on a route from the Mary Potter Health Centre on Gregory Boulevard, which takes in the Forest Fields area of the city, as well as a walk along the River Leen between Old Basford and Bulwell.

She said: "I don't know what I would do without the walks. They've built up my confidence, I was too afraid to go out on my own. I particularly like the walk from the Health Centre, as it's nice and open and I love to see the trees, especially in Autumn when the colours change - its beautiful."

Geoff Sansome, Natural England Regional Director, said: "Inactivity is one of the biggest health challenges facing this country. Volunteer walk leaders have encouraged over a million people to take their first steps back to fitness through WHI. The natural environment has been show to be the best motivator to keep people walking and the Walking the Way to Health Initiative, whilst reconnecting people with the natural environment, has a strong community focus - providing support and confidence."

"The Walking the Way to Health Initiative is a success because it is fun, free and provides a long term solution for people who want to make a difference to their health. The initiative is simple and puts people on the right track for better health - but it could not be done without the enthusiasm and dedication of the volunteers."

Dr William Bird, an Oxfordshire GP, introduced the concept of Health Walks for his patients at Sonning Common Health Centre near Reading in April 1995. It is an initiative of the British Heart Foundation and Natural England, which benefits from extra funding from the Big Lottery Fund. Below are some statistics about the success of the scheme nationwide:

• WHI has helped to create over 400 local health walk schemes and has trained over 30,000 volunteer walk leaders.
• There are now approximately 350,000 people enjoying led walks every week as a result of the initiative and a great many more are aware of the benefits of joining a health walk scheme or walking independently
• Since 2000, it is estimated that we've encouraged over a million people to walk more.

Volunteer Walk Leader training is a one day course on why walking is good for your health, how to manage a walking group, dealing with hazards and risks and how to motivate people to walk more. More information can be found at www.whi.org.uk

ENDS

Notes to editors:
Issued on behalf of Natural England by Government News Network East Midlands.

More details on Best Foot Forward, please contact Christine Adams 0115 0942 0323.

WHI
WHI is the 'Walking the way to Health Initiative' and it aims to get more people walking in their own communities, especially those who take little exercise or live in areas of poor health.

WHI is an initiative of the British Heart Foundation and Natural England. It benefited from extra funding from the Big Lottery Fund. WHI has helped to create 450 local health walk schemes across England and has sister schemes in Scotland and Wales. Since 2000, it is estimated that we've encouraged over a million people to walk more.

The majority of WHI health walk schemes have their own web page on the WHI Walk Finder, displaying details of their walks and how to get involved. More information on WHI can be found at www.whi.org.uk

Dawn Vernon Associates are the training team who have been delivering all this training since 2000.

Natural England
Natural England works for people, places and nature to conserve and enhance biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife in rural, urban, coastal and marine areas. We conserve and enhance the natural environment for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people, and the economic prosperity it brings.