Is your area a good one for walking?

The Ramblers is calling on people in the South East to nominatetheirareaforBritain’s Best Walking Neighbourhood Award. The walking charity is searching for the places that put pedestrians first and lead the way in enabling residents to walk every day for transport or leisure.

Now in its second year, Britain’s Best Walking Neighbourhood Award celebrates local authorities, developers, individuals and communities that have made positive changes to help make neighbourhoods more walkable – from making routes and public spaces greener,tobuildingmixed-use developments that encourage active travel, to improving the way local streets connect people to the places they want to go.

VanessaGriffiths,Ramblers chief executive, said: “We have a vision of a country designed for walking, in the open countryside,andclosetowhere we all live and work. By making it easy for people to walk their everyday local journeys, we help them live more active, healthier lives.”

She added, “With this award, we want to highlight the places and people already doing a great job to make walking easier in their local neighbourhoods. We also want to encourage others to think about the small changes they could make to improve the walkability of their neighbourhoods and health and wellbeing of their residents, while creating more vibrant communities.”

The finalists will be chosen by an expert panel and the winner will be decided by public vote in the summer.

To nominate your neighbourhood, visit www. ramblers.org.uk/nominate and describe the changes that have made it into a great place for walking. The deadline for nominations is March 3.