“Over the last five years, Get Walking has brought tremendous benefits to residents of Birmingham, London, Sheffield and Manchester,” says Simon Barnett, the Ramblers’ head of walking programmes. “Our aim is to create a culture of walking, working with employers, community groups and volunteers to get people active and keep them that way. We are delighted that increasing numbers of local authorities are appreciating how the Ramblers can help promote all kinds of walking.”

An independent study of the project found that nine out of 10 participants on the 12-week programme said their mental health had improved, with 57% going on to be more physically active every day as a result. Those living in the most deprived areas showed the biggest improvements, and the study estimated there was an almost four-fold return for every pound invested in terms of the benefits to society, the economy and the environment.

For more about Get Walking, visit www.getwalking.org/video.

Image: More than 100 people joined former pop princess Sinitta for a walk around London’s Bushy Park as part of national Walk4Life Day. On 25 September, the Ramblers and its Get Walking Keep Walking projects attracted thousands on to short walks across seven cities. Thanks to everyone who came and helped make it a day to remember!

As a walk reader, you probably already know all about the benefits of walking – but a new video from the Ramblers’ Get Walking Keep Walking pregramme aims to demonstrate how walking is the nearest activity to perfect exercise.

Physical activity is recognised by the Chief Medical Officers in the UK as being pivotal from infancy to old age in helping to reduce and manage many diseases. Since 2007, Ramblers has been helping inactive people to improve their social, mental and physical wellbeing through Get Walking Keep Walking’s time-limited 12 week programme. In the new video you can hear first-hand from beneficiaries, service providers and commissioners in communities that have benefited from the programme.

Click here to read past walk coverage of Get Walking Keep Walking.

GWKW Facts
•Over the past four years 12,000 people have benefited from Get Walking Keep Walking face to face programmes
•Half of these new walkers are from black, minority ethnic backgrounds
•A year after taking part, six out of ten people who were previously inactive had increased their activity
•Every £1 invested has created a £3.61 return of social, economic and environmental benefit (Centre for Local Economic Studies)
•Get Walking Keep Walking has been recognised the World Health Authority as a leading example of physical activity promotion to socially disadvantaged groups
•The programme has been funded through support from the Big Lottery and other partners in England
•Similar projects are now being developed by the Ramblers in Scotland and Wales to extend these programmes to a wider range of communities

“My wife’s ashes were scattered in local woods and I would like myself and my children and grandchildren to still visit this spot”

“Freedom – How much does that cost? Where can you go with a family for a fun day out for a few pounds to take in the air, to hear the birds, the exercise? Please take care of our heritage.”

“I grew up in an area where we couldn’t play in woods. Do not do it to my son!”

The Ramblers are calling on the panel to recommend the continuation of a Public Forest Estate; arguing that it is the largest single provider of outdoor recreational opportunities and provides some of the best examples of welcoming, well-managed public access in England. Britain’s Walking Charity is also calling for all woodland to be opened up to the public so that everyone can enjoy access to their local woodland. The panel is due to present its interim findings on the Future of Forestry in England in November.

“The public have an affinity with our forests and woods which comes from a deep sense of cultural identity,” says Anastasia French, Ramblers Campaigns Officer. “Thousands of people turned out during our ‘Walk in the Woods Week’ to celebrate the wonder of going for a walk in the woods. “We’re urging the Panel to listen carefully to these messages and let these saplings mark the beginning of a forestry future we can all enjoy.”

Click here to find out more about Ramblers’ Save Our Forests campaign.

Image by Humphrey Bolton via geograph.org.uk – Low Wood, North Bierley Viewed from High Fernley Road. Several parts of the wood have an under-storey of beech saplings.

With A Walk in the Woods Week in full swing, now’s the perfect time to get out and enjoy woodlands – and show how much you love them. The Independent Panel that was set up following the furore over forestry sell-off in February is due to publish its interim report next month, and Ramblers is calling on members to put pressure on the panel by attending one of our protest rallies in Friston and Rendlesham forests next weekend. The rallies follow on from a highly successful Robin Hood themed rally and walk in Sherwood Forest last weekend, pictures of which can be seen on the Ramblers Facebook page. Once again, all forestry users are welcome to attend – so spread the word and help show we’re serious about saving our woodlands!

Ramblers, walkers and countryside campaigners are celebrating the 10-year anniversary of a key law which paved the way for greater access to the great outdoors. Following a campaign that can be traced back to 1884, Royal Assent for the Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act was finally secured on 30 November 2000. The law gave legal access to just over a million hectares of mapped open countryside in England and Wales, and when the mapping process was concluded in October 2005, walkers were free to enjoy these previously forbidden areas – and have done ever since.

The right of access on foot applies to mapped areas of “open country” as defined by the Act as mountain, moor, heath, down, and registered common land and dedicated land such as woodland owned by Forestry Commission. Tom Franklin, CEO of the Ramblers, comments: “We celebrate a pivotal moment in the campaign for access in England and Wales. Royal Assent for the CRoW Act fired the starting pistol for the mapping process which has resulted in large swathes of the country being opened up to walkers. The Ramblers is commemorating this date – as our key role in pressing for this legislation.”

Justin Cooke, Senior Policy Officer, adds: “Ten years ago the media focused on the potential for problems, rather than the real historic achievement. We now know that those fears were unfounded, as access to open country has been a massive success. Walkers have used their new rights responsibly, and the restrictions regime has operated well.”

Against this backdrop of celebration there is a note of concern however, as local authorities make swingeing cuts to their public rights of way and access budgets. The Ramblers is campaigning for adequate resources to be dedicated to these vital services which are especially important for walking for health and pleasure in these difficult times.”

For background information on the CRoW Act see: http://www.ramblers.org.uk/freedom/righttoroam

We can now enjoy huge swathes of uncultivated land in England and Wales, and even greater levels of access in Scotland. Continuous coastal paths around Wales and England are also in progress, and many local authorities have improved their footpaths and promoted their use. As a result walking is becoming ever-more popular, with an estimated six million regular walkers – more than take part in either football or cycling. But I think there’s a real danger that these improvements could start to go into decline.

One reason things so improved for walkers over the last two decades has been an attitude change within government: a recognition that in the countryside, farming can co-exist with conservation and more visitors. Indeed, politicians now understand the importance of walking for rural economies and tourism, generating about £7.3 billion last year alone.

But with public spending cuts of almost a third, I fear that this attitude will start to fray. I’m told that government departments are giving less attention than before to promoting access to the countryside. And local authorities are scything rights-of-way budgets – Nottinghamshire is proposing to halve its budget, for example.

These are difficult times for everyone, but the Ramblers is ready to help government and local authorities manage on fewer resources. We’ve already got many teams of volunteers clearing paths, reporting problems, and assisting councils, who kept open nearly 600 footpaths last year.

But we need government to take the lead, ensure fair play, take action when access is illegally blocked, and support voluntary efforts by organisations like the Ramblers.  We’re campaigning for this continued active involvement by government, because we don’t want to see the ‘Forbidden Britain’ of yesteryear once again.

“Millions of people are going to be affected by today’s announcement in all sorts of difficult ways,” explains Tom Franklin, Ramblers Chief Executive. “We understand that together we face some tough times ahead. However, walking has always been a simple pleasure, a free activity that any family can do, even when money is tight. When today’s cuts take effect at a local level, walking in the countryside will be taken back 50 years, to a time when you were lucky to be able to reach the end of a path without difficulty. We urge local councils to safeguard this essential and cost-effective service before we close off the countryside and deny an entire generation one of life’s free joys.”

Please help ensure valued paths do not become dead ends. If you use paths to get to work, to reach local shops, access parks and other green spaces or to enjoy a ‘cheap day out’ at the weekend, please get involved in our Dead Ends campaign and sign up to be part of the campaigning movement.

Image above based on an original image by Flickr user BOSSoNe0013 and distributed under a Creative Commons 2.0 licence.

Short walks in England and Wales on the Ramblers’ Group Walks Finder (www.ramblers.co.uk/walksfinder) have been branded as Walk4Life walks as part of the government’s Change4Life campaign for a healthier eating, more active society. It comes in time for ITV’s Walk4Life National Walking Day on 26 September, whose television coverage is expected to give numbers on Ramblers’ walks under 5 miles and its Get Walking projects a big boost. Local Ramblers groups have teamed up with other walking organisations to arrange a walk for ITV cameras on the day.

Ramblers’ short walks in Scotland have also been given the Active Nation branding, the healthy legacy initiative for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Meanwhile, having prematurely hit targets for distribution of its Get Walking packs, the Ramblers has launched an online version – My Get Walking at www.getwalking.org.uk – where people can monitor their progress on a 12-week programme, setting their own targets and selecting their favourite walks.

Northants Ramblers have rallied over an unrecognised local footpath that forms a vital, safe alternative to the nearby promoted Nene Way. The group was joined by trustee and former chairman of the Ramblers, Kate Ashbrook, and Director of Campaigns and Policy Keith Roberts for a protest walk along the 500m path between Lilford and Barnwell in June, while the outcome of an application in December to put the route on the definitive map is being awaited.

David Craddock, chairman of the Northants Ramblers, said: “We had hoped that the landowner, the Merchant Venturers, would voluntarily dedicate the route as a public highway. We have evidence that this path is a public highway and we are pressing Northamptonshire County Council to treat our claim as a priority.”

If you have used the paths before the early 1980s and can testify at the inquiry or supply a statement, please contact Anastasia French on ✆ 020 7339 8584 or email walking.environment@ramblers.org.uk, before 1 October 2010.