Walk Week 2008
What is walk week?
Greater Nottingham's Walk Week began in 2006 as an annual celebration of walks, and aims to encourage people of all ages and abilities to walk more in their daily lives. Walk Week is organised by a team of partners including:
- Nottinghamshire County Council
- Nottingham City Council
- Nottingham University Hospitals
- Catherine Hughes (Nordic walking instructor and personal trainer)
- Primary Care Trusts
- Get Moving Nottingham
- Shape Up Notts
- Nottingham Trent University
- Broxtowe Borough Council
- The Big Wheel.
What happened this year?
This year's Walk Week ran from Saturday 17 May 2008 to Monday 26 May (Bank Holiday Monday) 2008. All walk week walks and taster sessions were free and every registered participant received a free gift and details of events to encourage more walking in the future!
Some of the highlights of this year's Walk Week included:
Sunday 18 May
Over 40 participants put their best feet forward to raise money for the National Association of Crohns and Colitis (www.nacc.org.uk) with a sponsored walk through Sherwood Forest. Organiser Joan Hughes said, “last year it was a lower profile event but by teaming up with walk week we’ve had a lot more interest, and been able to reward participants with a free gift”.
Monday 19 May
“Harry the Heart” and “Skippy the Kangaroo” enjoyed a day of celebration in Old Market Square, promoting health and wellbeing. Information stalls packed with free advice, maps and goodies ran alongside a series of short walks in the City to mark the launch of Nottinghamshire City Council's new “walk pack”. There were also Nordic walking taster sessions and a chance to sign up for other walk week events.
Monday 19 - Friday 23 May
Walk week coincided with National Walk to School Week; an initiative that encourages parents and their children to walk to school together. Plenty of primary and junior schools in Notts got involved, offering stickers and prizes to the children. “It makes youngsters a lot more alert in the classroom when they’ve walked to school”, says coordinator Natasha Mellors, “and improves their road safety skills”.
Wednesday 21 May
Walk to Work Day! It was difficult to beat Steve Sankey’s effort from last year’s 'Walk on Wednesday', when he set off in the early hours to walk in excess of 20 miles to get to County Hall by 8.30am. But this year, the best effort came in the form of Jan Punter on Wednesday 21 May – not only did he walk from his home in the Vale of Belvoir (around 12 miles) but he also walked home again in the evening, and agreed to be filmed, photographed and interviewed on all sorts of media. Fortunately for Jan, there were refreshments and rewards (and a kangaroo) waiting for participants.
Thursday 22 May
Pushy Mothers are a group of new mums who take regular exercise with their buggies to get some fresh air and back in shape. Following advice and exercises with instructor Vanessa Gretton. A group of new mums met in walk week for a free taster session in Woodthorpe Park. “It’s about getting out of the house and meeting new mums as much as taking exercise and getting rid of the post pregnancy bulge,” says Vanessa. “The taster session was for anyone curious to try out a class and hopefully sign up to come along regularly”.
Sunday 25 May
There was fun for all the family at Rushcliffe Country Park with beginner orienteering and Nordic Walking taster sessions. Beginners learnt the basics of orienteering and tried it for themselves on a short course at Rushcliffe country park. It was all free and every participant received a walk week gift.
Find out what happened during Walk Week 2007.
E-mail: info@walkweek.org for further information.
