With over 25 years’ experience of coordinating Health Walks between them, Senga McLeod and Heather Macleod have seen first-hand the difference walking makes to so many people.In this podcast episode, they chat to Walking for Health Development Officer Nicole Bell about their roles, the impact that Health Walks have on individuals and the community, and the contribution of their fantastic volunteer network.They also share their views on what makes a great Walking for Health project and reflect on their most memorable and often fun moments over the years.Finally, the pair share their views on why being part of the Scottish Health Walk Network is so important, there hopes for the future of walking, and explain why they are pleased Paths for All are continuing to push walking further up the political and social agenda.

Voices of the Walk

Senga McLeod and Heather Macleod: Coordinating Health Walks for 25 years

In this episode of Voices of the Walk, Paths for All’s Communications and Marketing Officer, Deborah Fox, is joined by Professor Jeff French, thought leader in the fields of behavioural influence, Social Marketing, social communication and citizen focused programme planning and evaluation – and keynote speaker at Paths for All’s 2019 Expert Lecture.Jeff is a visiting Professor at Brighton University and a Fellow at Kings College London University. He has published over 100 academic papers and five books as well as numerous guides and tool kits on Social Marketing, social communication, behavioural influence and other related topics. He was previously Director of Policy and Communication at the UK Health Development Agency and a senior civil servant in the UK Department of Health. In 2009, Jeff became the CEO of Strategic Social Marketing. Strategic Social Marketing’s aim is to directly contribute to programmes that will improve the quality of people's lives. It is passionate about working with and alongside people to improve the programmes, interventions and services they commission or develop to promote health and wellbeing.Deborah caught up with Jeff while he was in Edinburgh for our Annual Expert Lecture to find out more about Social Marketing, co-production for social good and the challenges and opportunities facing us as we look to create a more active nation.

Professor Jeff French: Social Marketing for an Active Nation

In this episode of Voices of the Walk, Paths for All’s Technical Officer Graeme Anderson talks with our Community Path Volunteer of the Year Gillian Craig. Gillian joined Ayrshire Coastal Path three years ago to carry out maintenance work on the 100-mile walking route from Glenapp to Skelmorlie. Since then Gillian has gone on to recruit new volunteers, increase awareness of the path through social media and leading organised walks and has become a member of the group’s management team. Alongside her volunteering with Ayrshire Coastal Path, Gillian also documents and shares her walks through her website gillianswalks.com and encourages people to litter pick through ‘plogging’. Graeme spent some time with Gillian in her Dad’s shed in Kilmarnock to find out more about what drives her passion for walking, the outdoors and the Ayrshire coast.

Gillian Craig: Paths for All's Community Path Volunteer of the Year

Alec Finlay is an internationally recognised artist and poet. Alec's work crosses over a range of media and forms including poetry, sculpture, print and digital media. We were lucky enough to have Alec run a workshop at our recent Scottish Health Walk Network Conference, which was hugely popular, so we thought it would be great to hear more about his work and how it links with Paths for All’s mission to get Scotland Walking.In this episode, Alec describes how walking and landscape inform his work and everyday life and how we as a culture relate to the landscape and ecology around us.

Alec Finlay: The art of going for a walk

Dr Jenny Lim worked as a GP in Grangemouth, Falkirk, for over 20 years and developed a strong interest in working with young people to promote health and wellbeing.Working with 11-year-olds from local primary schools, colleagues and Falkirk Community Trust, Jenny was behind the first Big Fit Walk, a series of 30-minute walk for all ages and abilities.In this episode, Jenny talks of her pride at being so heavily involved in the development of an event which was fun, free, inclusive and accessible.She also recalls the moment she learned about the power of physical activity and explains why she believes walking is "the solution to health challenges we must face".The Big Fit Walk is now proudly managed by us. It sees hundreds of short walks running across the country each June and is now in its 16th year.

Jenny Lim: the first steps of the Big Fit Walk

In this episode of Voices of the Walk, we talk to Mary Allison. Mary is currently half way through a PhD at The University of Edinburgh's Physical Activity for Health Research Centre looking at the impact of Paths for All's workplace Step Count Challenge. We find out about Mary's findings so far and her reflections on walking, the workplace and the importance of accessing greenspace in helping us all cope with the stresses and strains of everyday life. The Step Count Challenge has been running since 2011 and aims to get people more active in and around the working day. Mary's research has been looking at how the challenge has helped people to walk more, as well as some of the challenges of trying to fit a bit more physical activity into our daily routines. Mary has spent the past thirty years working in a variety of roles in strategy, policy and research for NHS Scotland, Scottish Government, sportscotland and latterly as the director of Breast Cancer Now, a medical research charity.

Mary Allison: researching the impact of the Step Count Challenge

Voices of the Walk is Paths for All’s everyday walking podcast. Our mission is to get Scotland walking; everyone, everywhere and everyday. In this podcast, we’ll be hearing from a variety of Scotland’s walking champions who are helping make our vision a reality.

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Voices of the Walk

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