Did you know that this May is National Walking Month?
Walking is such an important part of my exercise routine. Who am kidding? It’s the ONLY part of my exercise routine. If I didn’t walk to work and back every day, and potter about in between, I’d basically be a sloth, lying around all day on a huge, comfy branch.
Walking has all kinds of benefits. It’s great physically obviously to get your body moving and your heart pumping, but I find walking really useful mentally too. If I’m feeling a bit grumpy or miserable or cross, going for walk makes a difference. Not immediately, but after ten minutes or so of swinging my arms and pounding my feet I start to feel more relaxed. Things seem to shift and fall into line more neatly than before. I start to get ideas. The world takes on a rosier glow.
To get as many people as possible enjoying the benefits of walking, Westfield Health is launching its Walking Lunch campaign to coincide with National Walking Month, in partnership with the UK’s walking charity Living Streets. The theme of national Walking Month for 2017 is ‘walking cities’, which is why for Walking Lunch 2017, Westfield Health are cosponsoring the Crumbs City Trail app. You can register as a team or as an individual, track your steps on their UK leaderboard AND win fantastic prizes if you’re one of the most active participants. Prizes include vouchers, fitness trackers and £1,000 cash towards a health and wellbeing initiative in your workplace.
To celebrate, and encourage you guys to have a go, I took Bee and Belle out for a walk to try out one of the Bristol Crumbs City Trails.
Aren’t they adorable? My two little cherubs.
What are Crumbs City Trails?
Have you ever found yourself walking in your home town and noticing something you’ve never noticed before, because you’re usually whizzing past in the car or on the bus? That’s what Crumbs City Trails are all about.
You miss so much history, architecture and other hidden treasures on the bus, in a car, or stuck at your desk. City Crumbs Trails have put together a collection of fascinating walking tours in 12 cities across the UK, specially developed for National Walking Month and free to use for Walking Lunch participants. Trails include at least 20 minutes of walking with stops to solve clues based on your surroundings, and each trail includes a step count, making logging your walk super simple.
It’s normally pretty hard to get Belle interested in walking anywhere but like her mum, she’s a sucker for anything with a Nancy Drew angle – I just used the words ‘clues’ and she was sold.
How to get involved with Walking Lunch
So, you like the idea of following the clues and winning prizes? Good! To get involved, here’s what to do:
- Register as a team or sign up as an individual with Westfield Health’s Walking Lunch.
- From the 1st of May, you’ll be able to start logging your steps using the online portal. If you’re lacking inspiration for where to walk, try using the Crumbs trail app to find a walking trail near you!
- Track your progress throughout the month, sharing your selfies, walking tips and the sites you see following the Crumbs trails using the hashtag #WalkingLunch on Instagram and Twitter.
Like this:
We did the @Crumbs_C_Trails in Bristol at the weekend for @WestfieldHealth‘s #WalkingLunch campaign. Any excuse to gaze at the almshouses 😊 pic.twitter.com/86xoowXt0m
— Slummy Single Mummy (@mummyblogger) April 25, 2017
Winners will be announced after the 31st of May.
If you’re still not sure exactly what I’m going on about, have a watch of this video. Carol Voderman sums it all up much better than me, plus she is doing the exact same walk that we did around Bristol, so you can have a peek at what we saw on our trail too! Not sure about the right shoes? Hop over here for some tips.
Sign up now as a team or individual to take part in National Walking Month with Westfield Health and win prizes in the process!
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