walk4life

Walk4Life Day - 25 September 2011

It can be difficult to squeeze a walk into a busy life, but building activity into our day has many benefits. What better way to start than by joining one of the organised walks being held across the county as part of National Walking Day.

Walks have been planned in Wisbech, Ely, Yaxley, Huntingdon, Milton and Cambridge and are free! The walks are:

• North Cambridge Walk: Starts 2pm at St Andrews Hall, St Andrews Road, Chesterton, Cambridge, walk is wheelchair and buggy friendly, for more information contact Jacqui Lister, Community Development Worker on 07540703638.
• Milton Country Park: Starts 9am at the visitor centre, a ranger led walk which is wheelchair and buggy friendly, for more information contact Milton Country Park on 01223 420060.
• Wisbech: Starts at 2pm at Chapel Road Car Park (please allow 15 minutes before start to register), for more information contact Fiona Poignand on 07775532285.
• Ely: Starts at 2pm at Palace Green outside Ely Cathedral (please allow 15 minutes before start to register), for more information contact Gemma Voutt on 01353 865393.
• Huntingdon: Starts at 10am at Oak Tree Centre car park, walk is wheelchair and buggy friendly, for more information contact Steph Shadwell on 07540703645.

Walking is a great way to improve the health of the whole family, it's a feel-good exercise that's also good for the environment.

Walking is also one of the easiest ways for children to do the recommended minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity every day that gets their heart beating faster than usual. Sixty active minutes a day help burn off energy and prevent excess fat being stored in the body. It also helps young muscles and bones grow properly.

Adults need to be active for at least 150 minutes over a seven day period and walking can really help achieve this in a cheap, easy and fun way.

Dr Liz Robin, Director of Public Health for Cambridgeshire said: "Physical inactivity increases the risk of many chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer of the colon. Walking has been described as the near perfect exercise. Adults should aim to be active daily. Over a week, activity should add up to at least 150 minutes of moderately intense activity."

Rachel Tucker, Sports Development Officer said: "The health walk scheme is a very popular one with walk numbers increasing every year. I would encourage anyone to come along and give walking a try. With the walks being guided there are no worries about getting lost, and you may even find places in the district which you never knew existed."

For those who prefer to organise their own walks or who can't make the walks on the day,the Walk4Life pages on the NHS Choices website: www.nhs.uk. The website has details of walks taking place all over the country over the coming weeks and links to organisations that arrange walks. There are a wide choice of opportunities from country walks such as the Lakeland walk through Hinchingbrooke Country Park near Huntingdon, to walks in parts of East Cambridgeshire.