East Riding of Yorkshire Council this week celebrated 10 years of the Walking for Health Scheme with a special event at Beverley Leisure Centre.
Attended by volunteer walk leaders from across the East Riding, the event started with a thank you from Councillor Richard Burton, the council’s cabinet portfolio holder for civic wellbeing and culture, then an update from the scheme nationally and locally, a retrace of the first walk that took place 10 years ago around Beverley and then refreshments.
The scheme currently has 18 walks starting from various venues around the East Riding offering a range of walks lasting 30 minutes, one hour and two hours and a very successful pub walk scheme, which provides slightly longer walks.
All the walks are led by trained volunteer walk leaders, who plan and risk assess each walk, and are attended by over 1000 regular walkers, with 68 active walk leaders.
Councillor Burton said: “The scheme is a real success story and it was great to see so many enthusiastic volunteers turn up at Beverley Leisure Complex and to celebrate their work without which the scheme would not be possible.
“The main aim of Walking for Health is to encourage more people, especially sedentary people, to become more physically active through walking and I would encourage more people to take part across the East Riding.
“Not only is walking good for your health, it also improves wellbeing by reducing stress and provides opportunities to meet like-minded people and be more social.
“The East Riding is home to some of the country’s most beautiful scenery and one of the best ways to see it is by getting out and about on foot and, with our trained group of walk leaders, we can now look forward to another 10 years of Walking for Health.”
The council is always looking for new volunteers to help lead the walks and the next free volunteer walk leaders training is on Wednesday, 13 November. Spaces are limited so anyone interested in asked to book now.
