Walk to Work Week 2012

Walk to Work Week 2012 will be taking place on the 14 to 18 May 2012 as part of the Great British Walking Challenge.

Thousands of employees across the UK will be walking to, from and during work as part of one of the healthiest workplace challenges around.

You can sign up your workplace for free on the My Living Streets website; where you and your colleagues will be able to log your miles, minutes and steps walked and see individual as well as collective totals of miles walked, calories burnt and potential carbon dioxide savings.

Free challenge resources

A few Walk to Work Week resources for employers are available to give you everything you need to plan, promote and run the challenge in your workplace.

Employer’s guide (.pdf)
Full of advice and ideas for planning your Walk to Work Week and spreading the word to staff.

Poster (.pdf)
Just print and put up in your workplace to help promote the challenge. Printable at A4 and A3.

Promotional flyer (.pdf)
Ideal to hand out to staff or pop in pigeon holes.

Offline record card (.pdf)
Allows staff without access to a PC to still take part in the challenge.

Graphics
An assortment of graphics are also available to use on your website, intranet or e-newsletters:
Walk to Work Week Heart graphic
Walk to Work Week landscape graphic
Web button 300x250px
Web banner 468x60px
Email header graphic

Walk to Work Week 2011 saw over 8,000 employees taking part and collectively walked over 77,000 miles.

The Chesterfield Area Walking Festival boasts two weeks of guided walking activities taking in the beautiful Chesterfield landscape.

From the 12th – 20th May 2012, you can choose from over 55 walks, many of them free of charge.

A clear and concise website details daily walking events

Enjoy the Chesterfield area on foot, discovering pretty villages, exploring beautiful bluebell woods or treading the Cuckoo Way alongside the ‘Haunted Canal’.

Take in some history as you follow in Elizabeth Shrewsbury’s footsteps around Hardwick, get up with the birds to hear the dawn chorus or follow the Chesterfield Murder Walk – if you dare!

Looking for a challenge?  Try the Chesterfield Round Walk, a 34 mile trek through countryside surrounding the town.  Or brave the 20 mile Beast of Bolsover.

If that’s all too much, try the Five Circular Walks – five walks of around 10 miles each through a variety of countryside.

Most walks are free so there’s no excuse not to join in, and every excuse to have a pint at the end of several of them.  All are led by a fully trained guide who knows the history, wildlife and the best countryside to walk through (as well as the best pubs to visit) in the beautiful Chesterfield landscape.

The Chesterfield Area Walking Festival website lists the events daily with clear information about facilities, suitability and booking details.

More information

Chesterfield Area Walking Festival website 

Volunteers who help maintain paths and access routes throughout the Lake District National Park are celebrating reaching an annual workload target for 2011 with two months to spare.

The Fix-the-Fells “lengthsmen” – who repair and maintain more than 100 identified Lake District paths – gave a promise at the start of the year to volunteer for 1,000 days of work during 2011.

Their commitment to the vital repair and maintenance work on drainage clearance and path maintenance has been so strong that their annual target of working days was reached by the end of October.

LDNPA volunteer co-ordinator Tim Duckmanton said the volunteers’ achievement was very impressive and all the volunteers should feel very proud of their success.

The National Trust ranger teams organise and lead work groups as well as residential weekends working on path repairs, pitching and training up on other skills; whilst volunteers organise their own drain runs. Sometimes an entire valley of routes can be completed in one weekend.

Mr Duckmanton added: “Looking after the landscape and access to this stunning national park takes a great deal of effort and commitment from so many people.

“We could not achieve what we do without the outstanding enthusiasm and commitment constantly shown by our volunteers.”

Fix the Fells is a five-year partnership project (2007-2011) run by the Lake District National Park Authority, the National Trust and Natural England.

A new eight mile circular walking trail has opened on Flotta, Orkney, Scotland.

The end of the trail at Stanger Head. Pic Scapa Flow Landscape Partnership

The Flotta Trail takes in an array of wartime archaeology including the Naval Cinema and the Port War Signal Station, as well as the moorland of West Hill and the dramatic scenery of Stanger Head.

The trail starts at the pier, runs along the coast and then returns along the island’s lanes.

Funding has been received for the Flotta Trail from Orkney Islands Council, the European Regional Development Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund. In addition, Talisman Energy match-funded the interpretation panels and path work.

A complementary leaflet, showcasing the range of interest to be found on the island – including the Flotta Trail – has also just been produced by the Flotta Partnership.
This new leaflet is now widely available, including at tourist information offices and the SFLPS office in Stromness.

Visitors to the Breamish Valley in Northumberland can now learn more about the area as a new sound trail is installed.

The audio trail explains the landscape, nature and history of the countryside ,using wind-up sound posts.

So far four boxes have been installed with the fifth awaiting installation once building works have been completed.

You can find the solar powered, wind-up information posts at the following locations:

• The Ingram Bridge Car Park
• The National Park Centre, Ingram;
• Bulby’s Wood
• Hartside, at the top of the valley road.
• A fifth sound box is waiting to be installed when work on Peggy Bell’s bridge has been completed.

Easy to use sound box

Five sound posts will be installed as part of the scheme. Pic NNPA

The boxes are easy to use and children will love working them.

You just point the dial at one of the 8 messages, turn the handle and listen.

Each box is powered by energy generated by its solar panel and topped up by the user.

The information can be updated and refreshed over time.

The sound trail has been installed by the National Park Authority in conjunction with Cheviot Futures, an initiative to improve the resilience of north Northumberland and the Scottish Borders to the impacts of climate change.