'Let's Walk Cymru' (LWC) is a Wales-wide walking programme tasked with increasing the number of people using the great outdoors as a way of improving health and wellbeing of the population.  The use of natural green space provides great opportunities for people to participate in and enjoy walking.

 Our objectives are to:

• Support existing and new walking groups and projects
• Challenge organisations and groups to develop sustainable walking opportunities
• Offer walking groups guidance in how to expand their menu of walking activities, by introducing more progressive or challenging walks (including nordic walking, hill walking and navigation skills)
• Deliver health walk leader courses, signpost to other walk leader awards and provide insurance cover to volunteer walk leaders
• Engage with new target groups to increase the number of people benefitting from walking.

Let's Walk Cymru contributes to the vision of the Welsh Assesmbly Government's Creating an Active Wales action plan and is funded by Sport Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government.

It's free, accessible and available to all.

Making walking part of your everyday life is key to leading a healthy life.

You could

• Go for walk with friends and family or join a group and meet new people;
• Walk the dog more often
• Park further away from the shops and walk the extra distance.

Just 30 minutes of brisk walking five days a week is all you need to help set you on your way to achieving a healthier lifestyle. The 30 minutes can even be split up into smaller chunks, with 3 x 10 minute sessions or 2 x 15 minute sessions - which can be just as effective.

Gently does it:

If you can only walk for a few minutes, then it's a start. Try not to over do it. If you begin gradually you are more likely to increase the amount that you are doing and to keep at it. The more times you do it the further you will be able to walk. If you are unfit, then try going for a walk every other day to start with.

Download: 10 Reason to Walk

What is a 'brisk' walk?

Brisk walking is what you're aiming for. It is at this intensity where health benefits will be gained. So how do you know if you are walking briskly?

You should be at a pace that makes you feel warmer, makes you breathe slightly faster than normal and you experience a warm glowing feeling.

If you can walk and:

• sing - You should work harder
• talk -  That's just right! Keep going
• gasp - Slow down, get your breath back

A brisk walk for one person might not be brisk for another. It will depend on your gender, age and fitness level. The information below gives you a guide to the amount of time it should take you to do a mile.

• 5 mph = 12 minutes
• 4 mph = 15 minutes
• 3 mph = 20 minutes
• 2 mph = 30 minutes

 

 

 

These benefits can help to:

• Reduce and control blood pressure
• Maintain or reduce weight
• Improve cholesterol
• Lower the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes;
• Increases bone mass to delay or prevent osteoporosis;
• Reduces stress and anxiety
• Increase concentration
• Increase self-confidence and self-esteem
• Cope with everyday tasks
• Give you more energy andbetter sleep

If you have any medical problems and are unsure about the amount of exercise you should be doing, speak to a health professional for advice.

The outdoors

Our country's natural environment serves up extensive opportunities to reap the benefits walking can bring. There are more than 33,000km of public rights of way which can be explored and enjoyed, including footpaths, walking routes/trails and roads.

In addition, Wales possesses copious national parks, urban parks, country parks, nature reserves, areas of outstanding natural beauty, forests, coastal paths and many many more.

Walking programmes provide us with opportunities to get to know our own environments and to explore new areas, from the communities we live in to the mountains and coastal paths that surround us. Being in the fresh air can help reduce your stress and calm your mind.

People of all ages and abilities have the opportunity to develop a life-long positive approach to health and fitness by simply stepping out on to their doorsteps and exploring the natural environment around them.

For further information on any elements of Let's Walk Cymru please contact:

Email: letswalkcymru@sportwales.org.uk

Alternatively, you can contact your Senior Regional Officer on:

South East Office - 0845 045 0904 (option 2)

South West Office - 0845 045 0906

North Wales Office - 0845 045 0908

• Countryside Council for Wales
• Walking for Health (England)
• Paths For All (Scotland)
• Celtic Trails - Wales
• National Trails
• Ramblers Cymru
• Walking in North Wales
• Walk in Wales
• Walking World
• Walks from Betws y Coed
• Walking in Snowdonia
• Leaping Stiles in Mid Wales
• Wisdom and Valley Walks
• Go 4 a Walk
• Glamorgan Walks
• Health Challenge Wales
• Walking Britain

Let's Walk Cymru supports over 30 walking projects and groups across Wales.  These vary from local authorities-led projects to local voluntary walking clubs, all of which exist through the recruitment, retention and training of volunteers.

Projects and groups vary in size, resource and programmes. If you want to include details of your project/group, please email letswalkcymru@sportwales.org.uk

Health Walk Leader training

This is a one day course, delivered locally and managed by LWC.  It is aimed at volunteers and paid staff who want to lead 'health walks' to the general public in their communities or surrounding areas.

This training is aimed at those who wish to lead health walks for their local groups.  A health walks is defined as a "short, safe, brisk led walk":

• A walk on surfaces suitable for wheelchairs, pushchairs and walking aids
• Flat or on low level inclines
• With no or limited obstacles such as steps and stiles
• Short health walks up to 2 miles, up to 1 hour
• Longer health walks, as above, but over 2 miles
• Targeted at inactive people
• Paced to suit the individual  

 

Walk Leaders' role

• To lead safe and enjoyable walking sessions for people of all ages and abilities particularly those who are or have been inactive
• To promote the health benefits of walking and motivate people to take up walking as a form of physical activity.
• To help people adapt health walks to meet their individual needs.

 

What will be expected of you?

• To agree with your local group when you are available to lead walks
• To be punctual, enthusastic and motivated
• To treat each walker as an individual…….remember, it's their walk not yours
• Be friendly and welcoming
• To complete the mandatroy paperwork and lead the walk a outlined in the manual and the training.

 

The 1 day, free health walk leader course provides practical advice on how to lead a walk safely and how to encourage and motivate participants.  Please see our resources & templates section for further details relating to course learning outcomes.

Wales has over 50 Health Walk Leader Tutors to deliver the Health Walk Leader' (HWL) course.  Courses tend to be held when there is a need locally and could depend on new walks starting or a high expression of interest for volunteers. It is advised that you make contact with a walking project in your area for more information about dates of forthcoming courses.  To find a course near you, contact Fitness Wales* at enquiries@fitnesswales.co.uk or 02920 575155.

*Sport Wales work in partnership with Fitness Wales to administer health walk leader courses .

 

Insurance for Volunteer Walk Leaders
All volunteers who are trained through the recognised 'Let's Walk Cymru' Health Walk Leader course are eligible to receive free public liability insurance cover.  After attending the course you will receive further information regarding insurance cover.

 

Health Walk Leader Tutor Training

This course is aimed at people who are willing to people who want to be walk leaders for their local groups/project and surrounding areas. Walk Leader Tutors must have attended the Health Walk Leader training and have experience of leading walks.

The training is a FREE two-day course which includes course materials.

 

• Update Walk Leader Tutor Training
  As part of the professional development, all Health Walk Leader Tutors must attend a minimum of 1 update training day a year. The aim of this training is to provide new and experienced tutors with updated training material, training tips, sharing good practice and act as a networking opportunity.

 

More than health walks - different training

There are different levels of walk leader training available depending on the types of walks you wish to offer your group.  Make sure that your walk leaders are trained to the most appropriate level.  The more confident your walk leaders are, the smoother the walks with run.

 

The 'Let's Walk Cymru' programme will have a strong focus on monitoring and evaluation for two reasons:

• To ensure that LWC is reaching the right people.  LWC's success is measured in terms of the involvement and empowerment of people in the target groups
• To gather evidence of what works best to inform walking project developments.

 

Why should you monitor and evaluate?

You should built monitoring and evaluation strategies into your programme from the start.  It is important to collect data for two main reasons:

• For learning and development. It will help you assess how well you are doing in order to help you do better. It is about asking what has happened and why. What is and what is not working.
• For accountability. To show others that you are effective.

 

Funders and stakeholders want to know whether a project has spent its money in the right way. Often, projects need to 'prove' success or 'make the case' for why further funding is required to keep the project going, especially at a local level.

All projects funded through 'Let's Walk Cymru' are required to collect monitoring data.  The 'Guidance Pack for Monitoring and Evaluating your Project' gives a detailed explanation of the monitoring process.

 

To view the latest case studies please click the link below.

Case Studies