www.ramblers.org.uk

GET WALKING KEEP WALKING
Partners

Become a partner!

If you are involved with running a community, charity or voluntary organisation or project promoting health and well-being to the community in one of the Get Walking Keep Walking areas, and are interested in working with us to promote everyday walking, we'd be delighted to talk to you.
(Photo: Fred Agbah)

Get Walking Keep Walking programmes are often based in local community projects and groups, working with those groups' established users and contacts. We've worked with a wide range of projects including Sure Starts/Children's Centres, black and minority ethnic groups, public health outreach projects, mental health projects, drop-in centres for the elderly, community centres, leisure centres and schools through Extended Schools initiatives.

How the programme works

We invite participants to attend an introductory Welcome to Walking session -- an informal workshop facilitated by staff about the the health and other benefits of regular walking, the barriers and how to overcome them. We give them a booklet with the 12-week walking plan, a logbook, additional information (and sometimes a step counter), and take them on a very short local walk starting at the centre.

There are then three further weekly walks of around an hour, again starting from the same centre, and we encourage participants to walk independently between the weekly meetings. Supporting the project are trained volunteer walk leaders and walking ambassadors -- people who already walk regularly, know the local area on foot, and can enthuse and inform participants.

After four weeks, participants are left alone to continue to follow the 12-week plan independently, although they are contacted by a walking ambassador during that time and also receive a newsletter. In some cases groups of participants have continued to meet up and walk during this time, facilitated by the host project or group. In the 12th week we hold a celebration event and walk, monitor progress and encourage participants to keep walking.

However the exact details of any individual programme are determined by the needs of the host group or project and we are always flexible in trying to meet these.

For more information see More about the project or download our partner flyer (PDF, 466kB).

Where we work

  • Birmingham. Our Birmingham project has been running since July 2007, when it focused on South Birmingham. The project has now expanded to the full Birmingham City Council area. For more information contact our Birmingham team.
  • London. We have two projects in London, covering five inner London boroughs. Our South London project covers the boroughs of Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark. Our East London project covers Hackney and Tower Hamlets. Contact the South or East London projects for more information.
  • Manchester. Our Manchester project launched in April 2008 and covers the Manchester City Council area. Contact our Manchester team for more information.
  • Sheffield. Our Sheffield project launched in April 2008. Our project covers the Sheffield City Council area. Contact the Sheffield team for more information.
  • Other areas. Currently the project funding does not cover running local programmes in any other areas, although we are making the DIY version of the 12-week plan available more widely and eventually we hope to be able to roll out local programmes elsewhere. We will also share information and learning through our website and printed publications.

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