Archived press
release.
Keen walkers and champions of a healthy lifestyle are wanted to
join the successful team of volunteer health walk leaders in
Suffolk Coastal.
Health walks are a great way for residents recovering from
illness or operations to gently increase their fitness levels. It
is also a good source of exercise for those wanting to start
improving their cardio-vascular fitness and improve muscle
tone.
“Suffolk Coastal has many outstanding stretches of coast and
countryside to take advantage of and we are keen to help even more
local residents enjoy the health benefits of keeping active and
walking in our beautiful district,” said Cllr Sherrie Green,
Cabinet Member for Community Health.
Each of the walks are graded between 1 and 5 depending on the
difficulty of the terrain and the length of the walk, usually
varying from half an hour to an hour and a half, at various
locations across the district both in rural and urban settings.
“Thanks to the success of the current health walks we would now
like to introduce a series of specialised walks for people with
learning difficulties and mental health illnesses, providing the
additional support that may be required.
“In order to carry out the additional walks we need more
volunteer walk leaders to step up and help lead the way for people
returning to exercise. Volunteer walk leaders will receive the
necessary training and support to help them give a bit back to the
community while doing something they enjoy,” added Cllr
Green.
Local residents that have caught the health walk bug are
encouraging others to get involved and start feeling the benefits
of an active lifestyle. Former Olympic marathon runner, and
Felixstowe resident, Stan Cox has been an active health walks
champion for some time now and at 93 is a great example of the
benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Bob Halls, also involved in health
walks for several years, has recently been presented with a Healthy
Ambitions Suffolk Gold Award for his voluntary work training other
walk leaders and is great at motivating others to enjoy staying
active.
Health walks take place across the district and also Babergh,
Ipswich, Forest Heath, Mid Suffolk and West Suffolk with over 125
Stepping Out Health Walks regularly taking place so there are
plenty of opportunities for residents to get involved.
“Walking is a great way to get back into exercise gently as it
is a relatively low impact way of giving the heart and lungs a
workout and improving stamina without causing additional stress on
joints. It is also a good form of exercise to choose as you can
build up to more challenging terrains and increase the intensity
and duration of the session gradually as fitness
improves.
“The walks also provide a network for other people going through
similar situations and it is often helpful for those starting or
getting back into exercising to have someone to help motivate them
and share their experiences with. I hope that there are more
residents that would like to become walk leaders and help share the
many success stories that come out of the health walks programme,”
added Cllr Green.
To find out about becoming a volunteer walk leader offering
support and advice to residents taking part in the walks residents
can email
walks@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk
A full list of the health walks programme can be viewed online
at
www.suffolkcoastal.gov.uk/yourfreetime/steppingout