Natural England

Natural England’s ‘Walking the Way to Health Initiative’ (WHI) is celebrating a snowball success in Folkestone on Wednesday, 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.

Dr William Bird, founder of WHI and health advisor to Natural England, 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.”

Alan Law, Regional Director, Natural England, said: “We have roughly 10,000 regular walkers in the South East. There are 45 South East walks listed on our website www.whi.org.uk but there are about 50 more that are not officially part of the WHI scheme that people can enjoy. WHI is the perfect chance to soak in the beauty of the South East whilst keeping active and meeting new friends, perhaps this is why the scheme has proved so popular.”

The event takes place in Folkestone on Wednesday 8 August and will include an award ceremony and presentation by Dr William Bird.

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

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Issued on behalf of Natural England by the Government News Network South East. For further information please contact Jessica Terrell on 02072618644 Jessica.Terrell@gnn.gsi.gov.uk or Katherine Ellery on 01483 882 888 Katherine.Ellery@gnn.gsi.gov.uk

Notes to Editors:

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 benefitted 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.