Walking for Health

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Find a Walk in your area

All walks are led by trained Walk Leaders across the County, and provide a great opportunity not only to improve your health through regular walking but also to explore your local area whilst meeting new people. Walks aim to be suitable for people of all ages and abilities and our leaders will ensure that you walk at a pace that you find comfortable.

What is a Walk Leader

Walk Leaders will be responsible for leading free, organised walks suitable for those new or returning to activity. Walks take place over easy ground, starting and finishing in a location familiar to your community. Health Walks encourage people to not only get active but stay active, through supporting people in your community to 'join in' and ‘get up and out’.

There are exisiting groups that you may be able to join, but more often than not, you as a newly trained Walk Leader will need to create a group. Groups run best when there are multiple Walk Leaders so that the responsibility is shared. 

Who can be a walk leader?

All you need is a passion for walking, be a ‘people’ person i.e. good communication skills, friendly and welcoming, and keen to lead and support others to discover the wonders of walking.

No previous experience is needed as full training and ongoing support will be provided. So whether you’re an existing volunteer looking to develop new skills, work with a community group or organisation or simply love walking, we want to hear from you!

Why become a Walk Leader?

There are many reasons why and here’s just a few;

• Opportunity to develop your own Walking for Health group 
• Lead a social, healthy and welcoming activity.
• Meet new people and develop new skills
• Get to know your local area better and discover those hidden gems on your doorstep

Role of a Walk Leader and the support you receive 

A Walk Leader is asked to:

• Deliver at least one guided walk per month (hopefully more!).
• Establish and begin leading walks within 3 months of attending the training.
• Promote your walks locally (Active Cumbria can help with this)
• Keep a risk assessment of your planned routes and review as required. 
• Take responsibility for ensuring that the necessary paperwork is maintained, up to date and forwarded to the relevant organisation (either Active Cumbria or Walking for Health)
• Maintain a record of the number of walks delivered and the number of attendees 
• Share good news stories, photos and videos of your walks with Active Cumbria.

In return you will receive: 

• Walk Leader training delivered by Active Cumbria and accredited through the national Walking for Health programme which includes Public Liability Insurance.
• Access to the national Walking for Health scheme resources section of the website.
• Marketing and communication resources such as poster templates, volunteer recruitment posters, social media guidance, images, and logos.
• Follow on support and mentoring sessions inc support to help you promote your walks 
• A range of support equipment including backpack, first aid kit, clipboard and New Balance sportswear
• Regular updates from the Scheme Coordinator