Natural England - Getting Healthy at Woodlands Park, Maidenhead
Getting Healthy at Woodlands Park, Maidenhead
1 February 2010
Last Friday, the 29th January, members of Maidenhead’s Walking for Health Scheme were joined by Natural England’s regional director, Alan Law, and the local MP for Maidenhead, Theresa May, who met some of the group to see how successful the walkers have been at getting into the natural environment to get fit and enjoy themselves.
Maidenhead health walk
Kevin Johnson, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Scheme coordinator, says: “We have around 30 walkers who join a variety of walks on different days of the week. The walks are open to everyone, and they cater for a range of abilities and fitness levels. The guests are going to be joining one of our regular walks at Woodlands Park in Maidenhead which lasts about an hour and is aimed at regular walkers who can manage a brisk pace. Together with the volunteer walk leaders, we work to co-ordinate and encourage the walkers in the Royal Borough of Maidenhead and Windsor, and we are both pleased to see how much interest we have had in these health walks."
Alan Law, South East England Director for Natural England said: “Natural England has been seeing many more people reaping the health benefits of the natural environment. We think it important there is wider recognition of the huge contribution that it can make to people’s health. It is clear that getting people out and about in the natural environment is one of the keys to boosting the physical and mental health of the nation. We are working with our local partners to increase the number of people walking on our health walks programme four-fold with the help of significant funding from the Department of Health.”
The Windsor, Maidenhead and Ascot Scheme is run by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, with support from Natural England. Natural England is the largest national body promoting and setting the standards for led health walks, supporting over 590 local health walk schemes across the country.
Ends
For press information please call John Rennie in Natural England’s communications team on 0300 060 2616 or 07500 990874 or at john.rennie@naturalengland.org.uk
Notes to editors
Natural England
Natural England is the government’s independent advisor on the natural environment. Our work is focused on enhancing England’s wildlife and landscapes and maximising the benefits they bring to the public
We establish and care for England’s main wildlife sites, ensuring that over 3,500 National Nature Reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest are looked after and improved.
We work to ensure that England’s landscapes are effectively protected, designating England’s National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and Marine Conservation Zones, and advising widely on their conservation.
We run England’s Environmental Stewardship green farming schemes that deliver over £400 million a year to farmers and landowners, enabling them to enhance the natural environment across two thirds of England’s farmland.
We fund, manage, and provide scientific expertise for hundreds of conservation projects each year, improving the prospects for thousands of England’s species and habitats. We have recently committed £6m to develop wetland areas and have detailed biodiversity action plans covering 75% of England’s species
We promote access to the wider countryside, helping establish National Trails and coastal trails and ensuring that the public can enjoy and benefit from them. Health and the natural environment Contact with nature has been shown to improve people’s physical and mental health. Specifically it increases physical activity, reduces stress and access to open spaces helps strengthens communities. Exercising outside can improve concentration for several hours afterwards and makes you more resilient to stress. By walking for 30 minutes a day you can burn off up to 2,000 calories a week (the equivalent of six Mars bars. Walking and keeping fit also increases your metabolism so it’s good for you even when you’re not doing it.
The Department for Health and Natural England’s Walking for Health Programme
In August 2009, the Department of Health joined Natural England in announcing an expansion of Natural England’s Walking for Health programme. Health Walks already form an important part of Natural England’s health and access activities, and in the South East region, over 340 walks take place every week and more than 1750 volunteer walk leaders have been trained. Natural England is looking to enable around 200,000 more people to take part in the ‘Walking the Way to Health” initiative across the country and Natural England is hoping to quadruple the number of people walking regularly for their health by the 2012 Olympics.