My Walk of Life: Jean Sheldon

Following the Ramblers support for the Time To Change pledge, project manager Jean Sheldon describes how walking forms a key part of her mental health work

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Click on the play button to listen to extracts of Julia’s interview with Jean

If I had to pick the point when I fell in love with walking, I’d say it was at the summit of Long Mynd in Shropshire. I was in my teens on a youth hostelling weekend, getting my first experience of proper hill walking. The views were just spectacular; from that moment I was hooked on the outdoors. Even so, I wouldn’t have guessed what a big part walking would come to play in my working life.

Originally, I started working for the mental health charity BITA Pathways (Birmingham Industrial Therapy Association) as a cookery tutor. At the time they were operating a healthy living project. I offered to help out on the eating side of things and soon got involved with the activities too. That’s when I started walking with our service users, and I’ve been doing it ever since. I’m now a project manager and, as a result of seeing what a positive impact walking has on people, I’ve made it an integral part of what we do.

I lead two groups of around 18 people on walks twice a week. Their problems range from stress and anxiety to longer-term issues such as schizophrenia. Over a period of 16 weeks we measure improvements in their mental and physical health. We start from our centre in Digbeth and walk along the canals and footpaths nearby. After a few weeks, we venture further afield to the 2km Walking for Health routes in the parks of Birmingham. Then, when we really start building up our distances, we move even further out into the local countryside. By doing this, people get a taste of inner-city, suburban and rural walking.

Another walking activity we offer is lap walking. Three lunchtimes a week, groups of service users walk to a nearby park or green space to complete as many circuits as possible in the given time. This often sees huge crocodiles of people making their way along the streets of Digbeth – it’s great fun. A few years ago, we also linked up with the Ramblers’ own programme of short walks on their Get Walking Keep Walking project.

One of the first changes I notice in people will often be that they gain self-confidence. The groups usually haven’t met before, but by the second session they’ll be talking and getting to know each other as they’re walking. This mixing and socialising is really important because mental health problems can leave people very isolated.

One lady who came along was in her fifties and was suffering enduring depression. She said she normally found it difficult to talk to strangers; she’d never even spoken to people who’d been her neighbours for 20 years. The walking group helped her to relax and find her confidence in a supportive environment.

Some of our service users may not have been very active either, so these hour-long walks can really help their physical wellbeing. Over the 16 weeks, I see people moving more easily, walking at a faster pace and even their posture improving. And the benefits carry over into the rest of their lives, too. Success breeds success, as they say.

For me, it’s a pleasure to be able to pass on my love of the outdoors and show people what a big difference walking can make to them. The feedback I get from our service users makes it worthwhile. Take Bill, for example. He’s in his forties and has a condition through which he is losing the ability to see, hear and move. He needs treatment that involves prolonged stays in hospital and is very invasive, which has had an effect on his mental health, so he attends BITA twice a week. He told me going for walks brings him some normality: it gives him a glimpse of what it’s like to be normal again, feeling how fit and healthy people feel and doing what they do. It has given him the motivation he needs to keep going.

What could be more satisfying than that?

As told to Julia Buckley.

Your walk of life
Do you have a story to tell about a life-changing walk or how walking has transformed your world? Contact us at walkmag@ramblers.org.uk