Walking your way to healthier lifestyle
A PROJECT to encourage more people to take up walking for their health is appealing for folk to train as walk leaders or inviting them to come along and enjoy taking part in the walks.
Walking is an effective way of staying fit and healthy, with walking regularly being shown to reduce the risk of many chronic illnesses, including heart disease, type two diabetes, asthma, stroke and even some cancers.
Step It Up Highland (SIUH) is a Partnerships for Wellbeing project, funded by Paths for All and designed to encourage people to reap the rewards and health benefits of walking, with a series of low-level walks.
SIUH recruits and trains local volunteers to become walk leaders who will welcome and encourage newcomers to take part in walks that are accessible to people who might be out of practice or are limited by health concerns.
Health walks are a good starting point for those looking to get into longer walks with community walking groups.
SIUH offers a variety of walks, with the lowest level, Step Out, being outings from 10 minutes upwards and the pace matches the abilities of those taking part. These are ideal for those not able to do a lot of physical activity or as an easy entry point into organised walking. SIUH itself is the next level, with moderate walks that can take up to an hour. Finally, Step It Up Further (SIUF) is the highest level with walks of up to two hours and some may cover more challenging terrain or longer distances.
Within Lochaber there are groups of various levels in Fort William, Caol, Spean Bridge, Ballachulish, Invergarry, Mallaig and there are also a few on Skye. Further information is available at: www. pfw. org. uk/ projects/ step-it-up-highland.
Fort William also has the Young at Heart walking group, which is an independent club that meets on Tuesday mornings at 10am at the Ben Nevis Highland Centre to do walks of between oneand-a-half and two hours. It works in a similar way to the Ramblers, with walkers able to take part in two or three walks before joining. On these walks people can go at their own pace so walkers of all speeds can take part. For further information, contact Kate Budge on 07900 182894.
Oban Health Walks are also part of the Paths for All initiative. The initiative usually runs two walks to suit different abilities, lasting between 30 and 60 minutes. The walks are on Monday and Thursday mornings and further information and contact details are available on the Paths for All website www.pathsforall.org. uk/pfa-home.