Walking to health in South Gloucestershire is one of over 500 schemes in England, which supports people to become more active and feel the physical, mental and social benefits of walking.
We are part of the national Walking the Way to Health Initiative (WHI) that is supported by the British Heart Foundation, Natural England and the Big Lottery Fund.
The project has been running in South Gloucestershire since 2002 and, thanks to its dedicated team of volunteers, has become a huge success helping over 2,000 people to walk more.
What makes walking so good?
It has been suggested that walking can help to control or alleviate conditions such as diabetes, osteoporosis and raised blood pressure. In addition, there are also links with reducing the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, some cancers and more recently dementia.
The potential benefits of physical activity on mental health are endless, but there are definite links with reduced anxiety, stress and depression, not to mention helping to enhance mood, self esteem and body image – which is very good news for all of us.