Throughout the month of September, I ran the Live Yourself Better Habit Changer Challenge called 'Steptember'. The idea was simple; increase your steps in September.
In order to support this challenge at a local level, I decided to lead some local walks. We have the beautiful Sutton Park a stone's throw away and yet it is easy to become so busy with day to day life that we forget to take a breath and take a step into nature. The walk and talk element came about because in this digital age, whilst we can feel as though we have connected with others, in truth, there is no substitute for face to face connection. Loneliness and isolation are endemic and having felt lonely myself at times, I realised I am not alone. We all need human contact, and not only that, it's really good to have the chance to talk to each other. We must not ever lose that skill.
I recognised that I couldn't launch the walk and talk sessions on my own, it would take a team effort. My wonderful friends and my mum have been instrumental in launching the walks and in encouraging me to continue, at times in the beginning when very few, if any people were attending.
I launched the walks in collaboration with the amazing Salima at Studio 27. We had met several times before, and I love the vibe of Salima's work so plucked up courage to approach her for a collaboration and she was brilliant and so supportive.
As the scheduled walks came to an end, more and more people started to attend.
There were 17 walks in total.
95% of attendees were female
5% of attendees were male
We had people from age 0-74 ... but there was no age limit, and people were welcome to bring their children, babies in buggies, dogs, parents, in fact, anyone who wanted to join was welcome! In total we walked more than 60 miles.
The walks were either 1.9km slow walks from Wyndley Gate or 4.7km moderate walks from Boldmere Gate. There was one walk at Bracebridge too! I will post about that walk separately because it was part of a very special day for our community.
Whilst the intention was for the walk and talks to last for the month of September, they continued with advertised dates into mid-October. The walk and talks were all FREE to attend and all walk leaders were volunteers.
The plan is now that the walks will continue on a low level through winter, not advertised publicly but updated to anyone who subscribes to my website or anyone who follows the Boldmere Walk and Talk WhatsApp channel, both of which are free to join and follow.
The walks will launch publicly again in the New Year, probably March time. There is another exciting addition to the walk and talk collaboration... Steph at Go Talking Ways
In addition to Salima at Studio 27
What a great team, and I can't wait to be able to share with you our plans for 2025. The walk and talks will continue to be FREE and will continue to BRING our community TOGETHER
Stay tuned, and in the meantime, keep walking, keep talking and feel free to sign up to my website to receive walk dates through the winter.
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