September 2011
newsletter from
Change4Life
Dear Change4Life Local Supporter,
We all know that being active every day is essential for
good health at every age. After the really big summer
adventure and with the kids back at school, Change4Life
will be focussing on adults this autumn, launching a new
campaign encouraging them to get going every day.
Walking is one free, fun and flexible way
for adults to get going and build towards
their weekly 150 active minutes. We’ll
be dusting off our walking shoes on 25th
September for ITV’s Walk4Life Day.
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Get going this
autumn
get going
Change4Life will be back on screen this September with a campaign
focussed on diet and physical activity – with an emphasis on
supporting adults to try to do 150 active minutes every week.
For good health, all adults need to be active every day, working up
to their 150 active minutes in bursts of ten minutes.
every day
Change4Life-o-meter
To give the adults you work with a little help identifying those small
changes which might make a big difference to their health we’ve created
the Change4Life-o-meter. Fill in a short online questionnaire and in
return, the Change4Life-o-meter will provide hints, tips and support to
help them eat well, move more and drink less. The Change4Life-o-meter
goes live on 23rd September - why not give it a try to see just how
useful it could be to your work.
Septem
23
ber
Walking, whether as part of a daily routine or as a way to explore the local area,
is an activity that almost anyone can do and a simple way to keep healthy and work
towards their 150 active minutes. That’s why we’re delighted to be teaming up with
ITV and key walking organisations to bring you our second ITV’s Walk4Life Day
on 25th September – a series of nationwide events to encourage
people to get active and improve their lifestyle.
ITV’s Walk4Life Day will be launched in ITV regional news
programmes on Monday 12 September. Tune into your regional news
programme or go to www.itv.com/walk4life to find out how you can get involved.
Get involved
Walk this way
Why not encourage the adults and families you work with to
join one of the ITV’s Walk4Life Day events to remind them
how easy it is to get going every day.
All the routes are suitable for beginners.
No special equipment needed, just a pair of comfy shoes.
Seaton
Start time: 10am
Location: Starting at Opera
Bingo in Brow Top Car Park,
Workington
The walk will cross the recently rebuilt
Navvies Bridge, destroyed in the 2009
floods, and includes a W4L mile which
is marked by two new stone seats which
will soon be engraved with quotes
about walking/physical activity from
two local primary schools.
County
Durham
Start time: 11am
Location: Starting from the
visitor centre in Hardwick Park in
Sedgefield
Transformed in the 18th century, into
pleasure grounds, the Circuit Walk includes
ornamental buildings, ‘ruins’, lakes and
woodland. After the walk, there’ll be
children’s activities and free lifestyle checks
for grown ups.
Organisers: The Ramblers, working to
promote walking and protect the places
where people walk, the Ramblers organise
over 38,000 led walks a year giving people
thousands of opportunities to discover the
wonder of walking.
Why walk with us? Walking can be a
great way to spend quality time with the
family. You can be creative and get the kids
involved in planning and leading the walk.
Organisers: Allerdale Borough Council,
aiming to make Allerdale a great place
to live, work and visit, by encouraging
people to get out and about in their area
and walk their way to better health.
Why walk with us?
Whether you walk
fast or slowly, come
join our group, it’s
much more fun and if
you’re lucky there’ll
be some sun!
Manchester
Start time: 11am
Location: Starting from Wythenshawe Hall, Wythanshawe
Park, South Manchester
Set in this beautiful regional park, the route follows parts of the 109 hectares of open parkland, starting from
the grade II listed Wythenshawe Hall and exploring historic woodlands and beautiful wildflower meadows.
Organisers: The Ramblers, working to promote walking and protect the places where people walk, the
Ramblers organise over 38,000 led walks a year giving people thousands of opportunities to discover the
wonder of walking.
Why walk with us? Walking is a very social activity and is a great way to meet people, you can talk while
you walk and explore your local surroundings in the company of friends old and new.
Walk this way
Continued...
Sheffield
Start time: 11am
Location: Starts from the First Start
Building, Firth Park, Sheffield
The walk will take in the transformed Firth
Park – including ancient woodland, some
of the new art pieces in the park and the
brand new pond area. Pick up your copy of
the new ‘Journey’s to Hidden Places’ map
to explore Firth Park even more.
Organisers: The Ramblers, working
to promote walking and protect the
places where people walk, the Ramblers
organise over 38,000 led walks a year giving people thousands of
opportunities to discover the wonder of walking.
Why walk with us? All walking is beneficial, but for the greatest
benefits to heart, lungs and blood pressure, brisk is best.
Norfolk
Start time: 10.30am
Location: Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk
Brighton
Start time: 11am
Location: Starting from the Peace
Statue, Brighton and Hove Seafront
An architecturally rich and beautiful route, which includes the
recently restored historic bandstand, the remains of the West
Pier, Hove Lawns and the Palace Pier.
Organisers: Brighton & Hove Healthwalks, provides free, short, social
walks that are led by Walk Leaders and designed to help people get
the most out of walking for their physical and mental health.
Why walk with us? Walking is quite simply an incredibly
effective and simple way to exercise. When you walk with
people, you learn so much more about them. Being active
outdoors leads people to open up and be themselves.
Dating back to the 17th century and offering
spectacular views of the Norfolk countryside,
the walk takes in the Great Wood and the
Victory walk.
Organisers: Fit Together, a project funded by
NHS Norfolk and managed by Active Norfolk
to encourage increased activity and a healthier
lifestyle focusing mainly on health walks.
Why walk with us? Walking for health
benefits your physical, social and mental
health. Walking with a
group of friends is fun as
well as being good for
your heart and lungs.
Taking in the Norfolk
scenery, of course, is
another benefit!
Walk this way
Continued...
Birmingham
Start time: 11am
Location: Sarehole Mill,
Birmingham
Starting at a 200-year-old mill at
Sarehole, one of only two surviving
watermills in Birmingham, and
hopefully accompanied by the
Wildlife Trust, who will be sharing
their knowledge of this important conservation
area, thought to have inspired the stories of
JRR Tolkien.
Organisers: The Ramblers, working to promote
walking and protect the places where people walk,
the Ramblers organise over 38,000 led walks a
year giving people thousands of opportunities to
discover the wonder of walking.
Why walk with us? Walking is like a ‘wonder drug’
- it can help you improve your general health, keep
fit, control your weight, recover from a period of illhealth, lift your mood and strengthen your bones.
Bristol
Start time: 10.15am for 10.45am start
Location: Millennium Square, Bristol
Walking around Bristol’s historic harbour this
route takes in several famous landmarks, including
the Clifton Suspension Bridge and ss Great Britain,
as well as the annual BrisFest and spectacular
Dragon Boat Festival.
Organisers: Bristol City Council - Walking for
Health Bristol, a scheme to help people get more
physically active in their local communities. With
over 30 groups running across the city, they aim to
make it easy for anyone to find
a walk that suits their needs.
Why walk with us? Walking
is a great way to improve
the general health of the
whole family. It’s a feelgood exercise that’s good
for the environment and it’s
completely free.
London
Start time: 10am
Location: Starting from
the Pheasantry Welcome
Centre, Bushy Park, Richmond upon Thames
Exploring the winding paths and bubbling streams of tranquil
woodland gardens, Bushy Park is a wonderful haven of green
space with a fascinating history, including the remains of
medieval settlements.
Organisers: The Ramblers, working to promote walking and
protect the places where people walk, the Ramblers organise
over 38,000 led walks a year giving people thousands of
opportunities to discover the wonder of walking.
Why walk with us? Walking is free and in the current economic
climate there is no better reason to get out on foot. Pack a
picnic and go exploring without breaking the bank.
No Walk4Life event near you?
Organise your own!
We’ve got lots of information and advice for anyone
wishing to set up their own local walk as part of ITV’s
Walk4Life Day – or on any day of the year!
Our Walk4Life toolkit has plenty of tips for how to inspire
reluctant walkers as well as information on planning group
walks and suggestions for walking games and activities to
make your walk fun for everyone.
Need help planning a route then check out our Walk4Life
miles. We have nearly 2012 1 mile long walking routes across
the England. From gentle strolls to more challenging, fitnesstesting walks - there’s a Walk4Life mile for everyone.
Once you’ve decided on a route, there’s a Walk4Life event poster to help promote your
event, as well as tips and games to encourage the families and adults you work with to
walk every day – and a special booklet bursting with games for parks and woodland
N
You can also order free Walk4Life posters and swap 4 wheel for 2 feet keyrings via the
DH Orderline.
DH Orderline
Look out for updates on Walk4Life via Facebook and Twitter not to
mention the return of the Walk-o-meter – an interactive tool which
enables you to work out how far you walk on an average day, month
or year. It can even calculate how far those steps will take you, once
round the Grand National racecourse at Aintree perhaps, across the
Channel to Paris or even to the moon!
Don’t forget that although all walking is good, it is
brisk walking that really unlocks health benefits giving
the adults you work with something to work towards.
Encourage them to start slow but to pick up the pace as
they get fitter so that they really get their hearts going.
For more walks you can also check out
Walk4Life.info to find walks taking place in
your local area, log your progress and even
print full Ordinance Survey maps.
Walk4Life.info
Schools
Don’t forget to enter the really big
summer adventure competition
If you work in schools don’t forget to enter the competition to win sports
equipment. To take part, all you need to do is fill in the class’s preferred
activity from the really big summer adventure on the competition form
and explain in six words why it was the overall favourite. Then send your
form back to us in the freepost envelope provided by 30th September.
The most imaginative story in each region will be selected to win the top
prize of £1,000-worth of sports equipment. There are also two prizes of
£500-worth of sports equipment for runners-up.
Lazy Town
Change4Life has teamed up with the popular children’s TV show,
LazyTown, to produce new materials for people working with
families and children aged 2-5 years old. Together we’re challenging
kids to eat healthier and get up and about through various activities
led by LazyTown’s heroes, Sportacus and Stephanie. The materials,
including a wallchart and stickers, will be distributed to Sure Start
Children’s Centres in September and will be downloadable from the
website. There will also be a competition for centres to enter to win
a visit from the Superhero and sports equipment for the centre.
Walking to school month
October is International Walk to School Month and over 40
countries will be encouraging children to ditch the school run!
Living Streets want to help schools encourage their pupils to
start walking to school – whether that’s all the way, parking
up and walking the last 10 minutes, or just jumping off the bus
two stops early. For more information or resources to make it
easier for you to promote and run walking activities visit
walktoschool.org.uk/
Healthy Bites
Here’s a round up of other useful info, in bite-size chunks:
Celebrate UK Older People’s Day 5th
birthday on 1st October 2011.
Back for it’s fifth year, UK Older People’s Day is taking
place on 1st October, coinciding with the UN International
Day of Older Persons, and aims to highlight the valuable
contribution older people make to society and celebrate their
opportunities, achievements and aspirations.
This year’s theme of getting and staying active in later life aims to raise awareness of
the benefit of physical, social and mental activity. Hundreds of events, big and small,
taking place across the country, on or around 1st October – from digital photography
for beginners in Leicester, Zumba dancing in Bolton and Wii sports events in Coventry.
Want to get involved? Please register your event on Directgov or visit the Full of Life
homepage where you will find lots of tools and resources to help set up your event.
Please keep signing up!
Share your stories
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think any of your colleagues might want
to receive it, you can register on the
Change4Life website and it will be sent
straight to your inbox. As a registered
local supporter you can use all of our
resources free of charge and create your
own materials using the brand assets.
Sharing your stories with Change4Life is really easy!
Our new online survey aims to give you the opportunity
to share information and photos of Change4Life events
or activities you’ve run – and help us to recruit and
inspire more campaign supporters in the process. Why
not take a few minutes to tell us what you’ve been up
to and complete the survey here and who knows, you
could feature in this newsletter next month!
Register now
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