Tag: Walking

Kirk Loan residents celebrate walkable pathways

Corstorphine residents will be celebrating success later today with lunch in the residents lounge following the completion of a succesful partnership project.

Kirk Loan Residents Association have been working with Living Streets Scotland and the city council to get improvements made to local streets, enabling residents to walk more for everyday, local journeys.

Kate Joester, Project Coordinator (Walking Connects) explained:  “Living Streets Scotland worked alongside Kirk Loan residents to conduct a street audit, detailing the problems with the road.

“We then helped the residents’ group contact the correct councillors and other elected officials in order to work with the roads teams at Edinburgh Council, to help them understand the impact that the damaged pavements and lack of drop kerbs had on Kirk Loan residents.

“Edinburgh Council agreed that these concerns were valid, as the street had so many residents with mobility problems. Summer 2019 saw the council undertake and complete all the street repairs identified by the residents in their audit – the result being that many residents are now able to reach the local shops and bus stop, instead of feeling isolated in their accommodation.

“There is still some work that Kirk Loan residents would like to see done, such as shop fronts being more accessible for those who use wheelchairs and walkers.

“They are hopeful that, with the contacts they have made and the success they have had so far, they will be able to work with both the council and shop owners to make residents even more regular customers on St John’s Road, enriching the local community and encouraging a sense of belonging once more.”

Paths for All launch online health walk map

Navigate your way to better health!

We’re delighted to launch the country’s first online map showing hundreds of organised health walks in every corner of Scotland.

The new online resource shows when and where local walks are taking place as well as information about how to join them.

Over 670 walks have been registered nationally so far, from Lerwick to Dumfries and Galloway, and we are now encouraging the public to get online and join their nearest Health Walk to improve their health.

The walking map aims to make it easier for people to become more active while meeting new people in their local community. The walks are free, low-level and last around 30 minutes.

Ian Findlay CBE, Chief Officer at Paths for All, said: “Regular walking is such a powerful tool that can do wonders for your social, mental and physical health and we hope that this new map will make it easier for people to get involved in Health Walks. 

“People are often surprised by how a simple, weekly walk can become such a big part of their lives. We see people build strong friendships on Health Walks and discover little bits about the local history and wildlife of the places where they live that can give them a whole new meaning and stronger sense of community.”
The volunteers who lead the walks have been trained, know the most accessible routes for people of varied abilities and ensure a warm welcome to new walkers.

There are also specialised walks, especially for people with dementia and those who have been affected by cancer.

Ian added: “There’s room for everyone on our Health Walks and we encourage you all to have a look at what’s taking place in your local area and join in.

“We expect this fantastic tool to be a big success and look forward to seeing more routes and organised walks being added to the map over time as the walking community across Scotland grows.”

The Health Walk map can be accessed at: www.pathsforall.org.uk/healthwalkfinder
 

Is your neighbourhood made for walking?

  • Ramblers launches search for Britain’s Best Walking Neighbourhood
  • Call for people in Scotland to nominate their neighbourhood 

The Ramblers organisation is calling on people in Scotland to nominate their area for Britain’s Best Walking Neighbourhood Award. The walking charity is searching for the places that put pedestrians first and lead the way in enabling residents to walk every day for transport or leisure.

 Now in its second year, Britain’s Best Walking Neighbourhood Award celebrates local authorities, developers, individuals and communities that have made positive changes to help make neighbourhoods more walkable – from making routes and public spaces greener, to building mixed-use developments that encourage active travel, to improving the way local streets connect people to the places they want to go. 

Vanessa Griffiths, Ramblers chief executive, said: “We have a vision of a country designed for walking, in the open countryside, and close to where we all live and work.

“By making it easy for people to walk their everyday local journeys, we help them live more active, healthier lives. Not only that, we help tackle some of society’s biggest problems including growing levels of obesity, social isolation, congestion and air pollution.  Sadly, for many of us the areas we live in have been designed to favour cars rather than people, making walking unsafe, or unpleasant. 

“With this award, we want to highlight the places and people already doing a great job to make walking easier in their local neighbourhoods.

“We also want to encourage others to think about the small changes they could make to improve the walkability of their neighbourhoods and health and wellbeing of their residents, while creating more vibrant communities.” 

The Ramblers believes that one of the most important features of a walking neighbourhood is its ‘greenness’ or how well it connects people to the natural environment.

Local green spaces and routes make areas more attractive to walk and provide opportunities for physical activity as well as to relax, recharge and connect. 

People living near green spaces are more likely to be physically active [1], with research showing that those who live within 500m of accessible green space are 24% more likely to meet recommended levels of physical activity.[2]

Vanessa added: “The majority of us live in built up areas, and evidence shows that communities highly value green spaces and routes in their neighbourhood and hugely benefit from having regular contact with the natural environment.

“We are keen to hear about neighbourhoods that have improved or created new green routes, spaces or features, because we know that these make neighbourhoods more appealing for walking, whether it’s for leisure or as a means of getting from A to B.” 

DG1 in Dumfries made it to the final of last year’s award. The once a run-down and neglected neighbourhood was transformed by an injection of funding. The community developed their own innovative solutions to problems they had identified in the area. This included the creation of five civic spaces with street furniture, cycle parking, noticeboards and planters; street lighting upgrades; new street signs and the addition of places for people to stop and rest. 

A neighbourhood is any district, community or area where people live and work – it could be the heart of a big city, or a small village with just a few streets and houses. 

The finalists will be chosen by an expert panel and the winner will be decided by public vote in summer 2019. 

To nominate your neighbourhood, visit 

www.ramblers.org.uk/nominate 

and tell us about the changes that have made it into a great place for walking.

The deadline for nominations is 3rd March 2019.

Inverleith Festival of Walking & Cycling

Sunday 2nd September from 1 – 4pm in Inverleith Park

Do you enjoy walking, cycling, getting a bit more active and having fun? Would you be interested in finding out more about opportunities for doing these things? Continue reading Inverleith Festival of Walking & Cycling

Protecting pedestrians: cracking down on careless cyclists

Consultation to look at whether a new offence equivalent to causing death by careless or dangerous driving should be introduced for dangerous cyclists.

Continue reading Protecting pedestrians: cracking down on careless cyclists