Step Out Sheffield’s short led weekly walks can help establish a regular exercise habit and improve socialisation and wellbeing
Step Out Sheffield is a volunteer-led organisation, founded in 2016 that provides short walks at 23 different venues across the city each week. Our experienced Volunteer Walk Leaders have all been trained, and are insured, by our umbrella organisation, the Ramblers.
Walks generally last between 40 minutes and an hour and are delivered at a pace to suit our walkers. To accommodate all levels of fitness our volunteers offer a choice of walks: a shorter, slower walk and a longer, brisker one. With one or two exceptions the leaders vary the route from week to week to introduce variety and to take account of the ground conditions and the weather.
Walking in a group with experienced Volunteer leaders enables walkers to confidently walk in open spaces and woodlands. An Ecclesall Woods walker says she would ‘never enter the woods alone, but feels safe in a group and knows that the Volunteers won’t get her lost or leave her should she trip and fall’.
Walking regularly with a group can improve commitment! A Bramall Lane walker said his weekly walk ‘gives him a purpose to get up in the morning and get out for some fresh air’
We all know that walking at a pace that is comfortable for you is good for your physical health. But walking in nature can also provide an emotional lift and reduce your stress levels. And that applies whatever the weather. An important Step Out Sheffield aim is the provision of the chance to socialise both during and after the walk. We find that walkers have forgotten about the weather by the time they are half-way down their cuppa and enjoying a chat with their walking pals! Many of our walkers have said they value their walk because it helps reduce social isolation and loneliness. A Totley walker remarked that ‘the walk is the only time in the week I get to speak to anyone’. A Pitsmoor walker also said his walk is ‘the only point in the week when he knows he will be able to meet and talk with people he is familiar with’.
Regular walking has many health benefits. It can help people rehabilitate after surgery and walkers at Pitsmoor, Hackenthorpe, and Porter Valley all reported ‘how helpful their regular walks had been after they’d had a stroke’. A Stannington walker said walking had ‘helped her lose weight’, a Pitsmoor walker said his walk ‘helped to reduce depression’. And a Hackenthorpe walker said that since she started walking regularly, she’d experienced a ‘reduction in chest infections….and felt less out of breath and her fitness has improved greatly’. Walkers as far apart as Dore and Pitsmoor said how much their walks had helped them ‘settle into the community’ when they moved to Sheffield. A Graves Park walker said how ‘the solace she found on the walks, and additional activities with fiends she’d made on the walks, had helped her move forward after her husband died’. A Stannington walker said the walks were a good way of keeping busy post retirement. Volunteers reported benefits too including: ‘being able to help others in the community’, ‘enjoying the company of walkers and other Volunteers’ and ‘the walk I Volunteer with provides me with a sense of purpose’.
Step Out Sheffield walks are free – all that’s needed is a comfortable pair of supportive and ideally waterproof shoes. To join a walk simply turn up at the start point ten minutes before the scheduled start time and introduce yourself to a Volunteer – they’ll be wearing a hi-viz jacket.
For further information on any of our walks phone our Help Line 075 0563 9524 or visit our web page on the Ramblers Walking for Health website (www.walkingforhealth.org.uk) or visit the Step Out Sheffield website www.stepoutsheffield.co.uk
Grenoside walkers enjoying the sunshine in Wheata Woods, December 2021
Before Step Out Sheffield took over the administration and delivery of health walks in Sheffield, these walks were delivered in the same format and in many cases by the very same Volunteers, under the watchful eye of SCC Project Rangers and, for a brief time, by Activity Sheffield. The first Sheffield Health Walk was launched from Buchanan Road Surgery in May 1999. Over the ensuing years additional walks were added until a city-wide programme of walks was established utilising many of Sheffield’s fabulous parks, woodlands, and green spaces. Step Out Sheffield is proud to be the biggest volunteer-led Ramblers Wellbeing Walks scheme. Sheffield’s Health Walk scheme has been running continuously now for almost 23 years making it the longest continuously running Health Walks scheme in the country.
The quotes were collected and collated by medical students Zahra Ahmed, Harriet Beattie, Gwen Craddock and Luke Jones. They visited some of our walks as part of their Community Engagement placement with Step out Sheffield in November and December 2021. They also produced a short YouTube film to promote our walks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srb-Yp4PgsY
Sue Lee
Sue has been involved with Sheffield’s health walks since 2003 when she was engaged by Sheffield City Council as a Project Ranger to develop and deliver walks in Southwest Sheffield. When she retired in 2012, she continued to support the walks as a Volunteer Walk Leader and, in 2016, became the volunteer Chair of Step Out Sheffield, a full-time role.