I joined BTCV Hollybush in April 2007 as a project assistant on the Healthy Walking Project. At the time the project supported a number of weekly health walks in the West and North West areas of Leeds including Armley, Bramley, Farnley, Holt Park and Otley. The scheme was part of the national ‘Walking for Health’ initiative, then coordinated by Natural England.
All of the groups that Hollybush supported had local people at the helm as volunteer walk leaders. Most of these volunteers were older, retired people, usually with a wealth of local knowledge and experience, and enthusiastic about the joys of walking. Prospective volunteers responded to adverts placed in local press. BTCV provided regular walk leader training – a day’s course in the training room at Hollybush – usually to a mixed bag of people wanting to get involved in their local groups, and professionals wanting to set up walking groups as part of their role. Following the training – which covered things such as the benefits of walking, how to do a risk assessment and how to keep people coming back to your walks – volunteers were supported by the project with setting up groups, help with publicity and printing of walk programmes, paperwork and monitoring, and regular volunteer events.
I remember my first ‘walk leader training’ day. I sat next to Lyn from Horsforth, we got chatting and she told me she wanted to set up a new local walking group. I went on to support Lyn in setting up the group and I was there on the first walk – around 12 people on a walk around Hall Park, followed by coffee at a local café. The group went from strength to strength and is still going strong 13 years later, with Lyn still leading weekly walks for the people of Horsforth.
Written by Sarah Prescott