Natural England - Get up and Go
Get up and Go
25 June 2010
• Cheshire Health Walk Scheme Wins National Accolade
Age Concern Cheshire West & Central (CWC), celebrated this week after receiving Walking for Health (WfH) accreditation and as part of National Falls Awareness week (21st-25th June), are encouraging older people to Get Up and Go by taking part in local health walks.
Walking for Health is the largest national body promoting and setting the standards for free of charge health walks. It is a joint initiative between Natural England and the Department of Health.
As a WfH accredited scheme, Age Concern CWC will benefit from being formally recognised by health professionals, prospective partners and funders.
Walking for Health aims to get more people walking in their own communities, especially those who take little exercise or live in areas of poor health. The initiative has helped to create over 590 local health walk schemes across England and has trained over 40,000 Volunteer Walk Leaders. We support schemes through training for walk leaders, advice on setting up a new scheme, insurance, evaluation and free leaflets to help promote walking.
Liz Newton, Natural England’s Regional Director, said: “The accreditation scheme has played a fundamental role in delivering high standards across the WfH network. This boosts the confidence of both participants in the scheme and health professionals who wish to refer their patients on.”
Rachel Swale, Natural England’s WfH Adviser, said: “With one in three suffering from a fall each year in later life, it is vital that people are not only encouraged to stay active, but that they can do so in a safe environment.”
Melanie Houghton, WfH scheme coordinator, said “Our walks are designed to build people’s confidence. If people have had a fall they might be afraid of walking by themselves, but if they come out and join a group like ours they are in a safe setting where the walk leaders are qualified and the walks have been risk-assessed. We always have a walk leader at the back of the group who will walk at the pace of the slowest walkers. The groups are social and open to everybody.”
Rachel Swale adds: “I would like to congratulate Age Concern CWC on achieving WfH accreditation. When I joined one of their health walks in Crewe I was very impressed by the high standard of care demonstrated by the walk leaders, Arthur and Joan and received a wonderfully warm welcome by the group.”
Age Concern CWC welcome new walkers throughout the year. WfH walks take place fortnightly across Cheshire; you can see the full programme and other health walks in your area by logging onto www.wfh.naturalengland.org.uk
-Ends-
Notes to Editors:
Walking for Health
Walking for Health is the largest national body promoting and setting the standards for led health walks. It is a joint initiative between Natural England and the Department of Health. Walking for Health aims to get more people walking in their own communities, especially those who take little exercise or live in areas of poor health. The initiative has helped to create over 590 local health walk schemes across England and has trained over 40,000 Volunteer Walk Leaders. We support schemes through training for walk leaders, advice on setting up a new scheme, insurance, evaluation and free leaflets to help promote walking. Our health walks are free to participants and provide an easy way of getting regular exercise. There is compelling evidence of the benefits of moderate physical activity. Those who exercise enjoy greater life expectancy with reduced risks of coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, colonic cancer and osteoporosis. Walking can also be a catalyst for connecting people with many other aspects of health, such as healthy eating, stopping smoking and relaxation. Many health walk schemes have their own web page on the Walking for Health ‘Walk Finder’, displaying details of their walks and how to get involved. These can all be accessed by logging onto the Walking for Health website.
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.
For further information contact: Will Herman North West Regional Communications on 07919 303452 William.herman@naturalengland.org.uk
