This month is National Walking Month! Walking can be a great way to boost our mental health and connect with other people in our communities. To celebrate this month and shout about the amazing power of walking, we are a shining a spotlight on our Active Travel Project, which runs friendly, accessible walking groups across Leeds and Yorkshire. If you would like to get walking, read on to learn more about our walking groups and how you can get involved…
Walking Groups at Touchstone
Recent snapshots from walks in Leeds
At Touchstone, we run exciting, welcoming and accessible walking groups all across Leeds and Yorkshire through our Active Travel project. The project provides engaging walks in nature to suit all abilities. From a 30 min stroll around the park looking at squirrels and learning about trees to a whole afternoon immersing yourself in the local countryside (with the obligatory café visit!), our project coordinator Joe will help you develop your own walking practice and increase your confidence with route finding, trip planning and getting further into wilder spaces.
Our walks include:
- 2 weekly walking groups in East Leeds. The groups are for anyone that wants to get out walking, learn some new skills and meet new people. Through walks in nature, we look at building confidence and fitness. We also run classroom sessions, where we look at building skills to help you develop into an independent hiker. These walks are part of the Walk it, Ride it Project.
- Countryside walks on a Friday or Saturday every month. All of these routes are 5-10 miles long and are accessible via public transport. Dates for these walks are: 30th May, 6th June, 12th July, 9th August, 19th September, 18th October, 15th November, 12th December. These walks are part of our Active Travel Hub for East Leeds, which we run in partnership with Leeds Bike Mill.
What Are Our Walks Like?
Hetchell Wood Nature Reserve
Our walks are really varied but they have some key things in common: they are designed to help as many people as possible get out into nature and gain confidence in walking. They are also the perfect place to meet new people with shared interests. As our project coordinator Joe says:
“People come from all kinds of backgrounds and enjoy each other’s company. Nature has an innate ability to heal and sooth, whilst on the walks we learn, share and laugh, it’s a magical experience.”
Following a recent walk to Hetchell Wood Nature Reserve, a group member said:
“The walk was great, it was enjoyable, I’d never been to that place before. Everyone was really friendly in the group and we had a good laugh. The mound that we went to the top of (Pompacalli) really reverberated with me, thinking about why the Romans made it and what had been there and why it had disappeared. It opens up the imagination visiting places that have history, then learning about the history and chatting about it whilst we are at the place.”
Who Can Join in on the Walks?
Anyone that wants to join the walk is welcome! We strongly believe in making our walks safe and accessible for as many people as possible. If you want to attend the group, we will do everything we can to make sure that you can. Our project coordinator Joe also has experience of guiding blind people and supporting people with other disabilities on walks. If you want to join, just give us a call and Joe will be available to have a chat about how we can make the walk safe and comfortable for you.
We also have a buddying scheme, which helps anyone feeling anxious about attending the group for the first few times. Joe can also meet new people before the group for a coffee and a chat to help you feel at ease.
There are lots of ways to enjoy our walking groups – you can come along to one or two, or come every week! Some people come to the walks for a few months, then take a break and return in the future; some come each week. Some go onto volunteering within the group, go on to do the walk leader training and start walking a lot in their own time, even taking trains out into the Dales for long hikes.
A few of the projects are mainly focused on East Leeds but we can also signpost you to other walking and physical activity groups in other areas of Leeds!
Walking and Mental Health
Hetchell Wood Nature Reserve
The Active Travel Project sits within the Community Development Services at Touchstone and is aimed at supporting people to stay well and connect with people in their community. As Joe says:
“I feel the groups I facilitate chime well with Touchstone’s ethos. People come to the groups to recover and heal, to be inspired and to push themselves out of their comfort zone’s in a positive way. Making positive changes for their health and wellbeing by moving their bodies and taking notice of their natural surroundings. This can help you to feel more connected to the nature world. Our groups are beautifully diverse, we explore and celebrate this through deep conversations and learning about each other’s lives.”
Upcoming Events
Our countryside walks are about to start! We are really excited about taking people on longer walks in the countryside. Joe has been exploring the hills, woods and natural spaces around the North for many years and is looking forward to sharing some of these beautiful places with more people!
As part of our work with Leeds Bike Mill at the new Active Travel Hub in East Leeds, we co-run weekend drop-in sessions on the first Saturday of the month, at Leeds Bike Mill, 37 Mabgate Green, Leeds, LS9 7DS. Everyone is welcome!
Our 2 weekly walks as part of the Walk It, Ride It project are continuing as normal but there are new places to visit every week!
To find out more about our walking groups and Active Travel project, please visit our webpage: https://touchstonesupport.org.uk/active-travel-projects/ or contact our project coordinator Joe on: 07741 328786 / JoeK@TouchstoneSupport.org.uk.
