Major funding for Ramblers' work
18/07/2007
People across England will take part in a host of regular activities to get them off the sofa and into their trainers with £20 million in Lottery cash awarded to the Sustrans led, Active Travel Consortium. Today's award comes as the Big Lottery Fund hands out over £126 million in funding from its Well-being programme, to help communities build healthier lifestyles. The Active Travel Consortium will specifically target people who don't regularly exercise.
A £5million Ramblers' Association project to help people in big cities do more regular local walking to improve their physical and mental health and well-being is a key part of this funding.
The Get Walking Keep Walking project is to receive £3.5million for a four-year project aimed at people who aren't already active enough for good health. The new money will be spent supporting people to do more everyday walking close to home- not only for health and leisure walks but also trips to the shops, school or work.
The money is the single largest sum granted to Britain's biggest walking charity in its 72-year history. Additional funds will come from the Ramblers Holidays Charitable Trust and from local councils who are supporting the scheme.
Get Walking, which has been successfully piloted in South London and South Birmingham, provides free locally based 12-week walking programmes combining information and motivation with led walks and other activities. There is also a DIY pack for those who can't attend sessions.
Around 90,000 people in South and East London, Birmingham, Manchester and Sheffield will benefit from the scheme, which also involves training hundreds of volunteers, including walking ambassadors - keen walkers who can share their enthusiasm and knowledge with others.
Ramblers Interim Chief Executive Paul Wilkinson said: "We are absolutely delighted with this award. Two thirds of men, three quarters of women and a third of children in England aren't active enough for good health, and promoting walking is the obvious solution. It's the easiest exercise to fit into everyday life, as almost everyone can do it, anywhere and at any time, for free.
"Plenty of people have told us that doing more walking has changed their lives: they feel happier and healthier, they've lost weight and are more confident about finding their way around locally. This cash funding will give us the resources to get out and change many more lives."
Sir Clive Booth, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund, said: ''Investment in healthy living and active lifestyles has become more important over the last few years, especially in the context of growing obesity levels and the increase in mental health conditions such as stress, depression and anxiety.
Over 2 million people are expected to directly benefit from the projects by increasing their levels of physical activity through active forms of travel, along with the associated physical and mental health benefits.