Living Streets
National Walking Month is organised every May by Living Streets – the UK charity for everyday walking.
#WalkThisMay
This year we are all being encouraged to #WalkThisMay!
New Research
Living Streets conducted research to find out what we have enjoyed most about walking more this past year. They found that walking was seen as a great way to stay healthy, to meet friends and family in a safe and legal way, and to discover new places.
In addition, lots of people are planning to keep on walking to maintain their physical health and mental wellbeing, with a third of people planning to keep the car at home to reduce their carbon footprint!
Research results
The vast majority of people enjoyed the health benefits of a daily walk, with 76% naming physical health benefits and 56% the mental health benefits of being active. Walking was also seen as a good way to meet friends and family in a safe and legal way (36%) and to discover new places (29%), whilst one in five (21%) appreciated the financial savings of walking rather than driving. Meeting up with friends and family was particularly important to younger people, with over half (56%) of 18-24 year olds using walks to keep in touch during lockdown.
Living Streets is urging the public to ‘Walk this May’ for National Walking Month. The charity has launched an online pledge, asking people to commit to walk a certain number of short journeys each week. After pledging their miles, participants will be shown how many calories they will burn and how much CO2 they will save when compared to driving those miles..
Make your pledge!
Register your pledge on how many short journeys you plan to walk each week during National Walking Month (for the purpose of this pledge, a short walk is counted as around one mile or 15-20 minutes) here: https://www.livingstreets.org.uk/walkthismay
Everyone who makes a pledge will be entered into a prize draw to win either £200 or £50 worth of outdoor clothing shopping vouchers, so you’re ready and raring to go – whatever the weather!
Love Your Gut
And don’t forget exercise is also important for your gut health, see our expert tips here
