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Take a walk! You’ll learn more about your local area, meet other people and soon start to feel healthier.
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Walking as part of a group can be fun and a good way to mix socially.
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Health professionals have described walking as the perfect exercise and the best buy in public health. It’s free, open to most people and you don’t need any special equipment.
And for folk who do decide to get up and go there are clear rewards – people who are active are more likely to live longer, enjoy more healthy years of life and remain independent.
Since 2001, Paths for All have led the way in getting people out of doors to improve their health. We’ve developed a walking for health initiative, which has encouraged thousands of inactive people to take regular physical activity in and around their local neighbourhood. With funding from the Scottish Government, we’re able to provide grants to local partnerships made up of community groups and other agencies. These groups then train volunteers to lead health walks in communities across Scotland.
Volunteer leaders
“We feel like we're taking back the streets, paths and parks”
www.snh.gov.uk
The 3,700 volunteer walk leaders in Scotland are the backbone of hundreds of health walk schemes. They’re often drawn from the people who take part in the regular walks and who are therefore most likely to appreciate the needs of local people. They understand their feelings about the local environment and the barriers to getting out and about. NHS Health Scotland recommend that adults should take at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days of the week. However, the Government believe that 60% of adults aren’t meeting even this minimal target. Lorraine Crawford, a young mum from Barmulloch in Glasgow, was one of them, until she joined a health walk as a way of meeting people and taking a break from the stresses of family life. Now she’s a volunteer walk leader, and Lorraine praises health walks for allowing people to mix socially. “The fact that you’re able to walk regularly as part of a like-minded local group is what appeals to inactive people,” Lorraine commented. “Very few of the folk taking part would be interested in becoming involved with sport or facility-based exercise. “We all help each other and enjoy catching up. We feel like we’re taking back the streets, paths and parks, which might otherwise seem threatening if you were on your own, particularly to women and older people.”
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