London Region - January 2009

Welcome to the first edition of the London Regional WHI e-newsletter. Please find below an update on what is happening with WHI in the region.

Who are Natural England?

Natural England was formed through the NERC Act in 2006 bringing together English Nature, the landscape, access and recreation elements of the Countryside Agency and the environmental land management functions of the Rural Development Service.

Natural England's mission is to support the growth and expansion of WHI in order to reach new audiences and reduce health inequalities in London. We are passionate about spreading the word about the health benefits of being physically active outdoors and the value of health walks for supporting healthier, happier individuals and communities.

WHI Statistics

In the London WHI Network there are currently:

*         190 walks per week
*         272 Volunteer Walk Leaders
*         1776 walkers per week

These are great stats, but we want to make a urgent plea to all schemes! In order to advocate the value of health walking we need to collate up to date information from all the WHI Schemes in London.

Therefore, please, please, please can you ensure you have supplied the following information to Andy.Jennings@naturalengland.org.uk:

*         Up to date WHI Scheme Co-ordinator contact details;
*         Number of weekly walks;
*         Number of walkers per week;
*         Number of active Volunteer Walk Leaders.

Eventually we will be able to obtain this from the Evaluation Database.

WHI Network Event

The next regional WHI Network Event will take place on Friday 3rd April 2009 and not 5th February. It will take place at Roots and Shoots <http://www.rootsandshoots.org.uk/>  in Kennington. The time is yet to be confirmed but rest assured the event will include their legendary food at lunchtime!

Volunteer Walk Leader Celebratory Event

We are very close to putting the final details together for our celebration of VWL's contribution to WHI, taking place at the end of March. As soon as we have finalised the event, we will be in touch. Don't forget that all VWL's from the London Region will be welcome to attend, so make sure that you let as many people know as possible.

Database and Evaluation

The database - based on the OHQ - has started to give some very valuable information of health walks across the nation, helping to meet the high standards of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the process.

Participating schemes are now able to generate reports from the database. Meaningful statistics can be obtained to share with partners, health professionals and funders.

As of January 2009, a total of 241 schemes nationally have input data onto the database. Over 12,000 walkers have been put onto the database along with nearly 2000 walks. This has led to over 56,000 of 'walk hours' (the data needed to build up the evaluation evidence).

Currently in London, we have only had 7 WHI Schemes input their data onto the database, in contrast to the other regions (the West Midlands have had 51 schemes input data!). We would like to get as many schemes in London up and running as soon as possible. Please let us know how we can help you to do this.

For those who were unable to attend the last Network Event (or those who need refreshing), we have arranged for Database training session on Wednesday 25th February, 11am-1pm at Ashdown House, London, SW1E 6DE. We will go through how to input data onto the database and the type of reports you can produce. If you are interested in attending this valuable session, please can you email Andy Jennings  asap.

Cascade Trainers

There is a free training course available to become a WHI Cascade Trainer on Wednesday 18th February 2009.

This will allow you to train volunteers to become Walk Leaders. This course is always over-subscribed as they do not take place very often, so if you are interested in attending please contact Andy Jennings asap. The closing date for applications is Wednesday 21st January.

In the London Region there is a real shortage of Cascade Trainers. We are especially looking for people who are keen to do at least two training events a year and if possible, open up any spare places to other schemes.  

Insurance - Children

Q. Do children or young people on a health walk need to be accompanied?

A.

*         Children under age 10 must be accompanied by their parent or guardian;
*         Children over age 10 must be accompanied by an adult;
*         Young people over age 14 do not need to be accompanied.

"However, the walk leader has overall responsibility for anyone taking part in the walk, including children. The parent or guardian is there to assist and should take care of their child(ren) but this does not remove the responsibility from the walk leader.

Groups of children, ie school, youth clubs and other organisation groups are not covered under the scheme. These would be the responsibility of the organisation concerned.

As in all cases, a risk assessment of the route to be used, and the ability of the participants, should be taken into account."

For further information regarding this or other insurance questions, please take a look at the FAQs <http://whi.net.countryside.gov.uk/insurancefaqs.html>  on the Learning Network. Should you have any further enquiries, please email: Jasia.Krabbe@naturalengland.org.uk.

London Case Studies

In our first edition we are going to look at a couple of case studies that have shown excellent ways to link in with the community.

Linking in with libraries

Over the last 5 years, the Health Promotion team in Hillingdon have been exploring how libraries could maximise their potential to be used as a health promotion resource.

Health walkers have enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about their local history and participate in craft activities. Scheduled walks end at a local library where guest speakers and refreshments are arranged for the walkers.

This year, as part of the Borough's "Step into Health" month, over 70 people enjoyed a healthy walk that ended at a local library. This opportunity was used to promote all healthy walks in the Borough and to recruit volunteer walk leaders.

For more information about Hillingdon Healthy Walks, please contact Julia.Heggie(at)remove-this.hillingdon.gov.uk.

Linking in with children's centres

In 2008, Haringey Health in Mind teamed up with a local Children's Centre in Hornsey to set up a health walk for mums with buggies. The weekly walk to Alexandra Park takes place on Wednesdays at 2.15pm and is very successful, but they are always looking for more mums to come along!

For more information, please contact Jadzia on 020 8340-7050.

Partnerships are at the Heart of WHI

Back in October WHI worked together with Rethink and Mind on the 'Get Moving' week, making it a very successful event. Below is some more information on the WHI Scheme set up by Rethink and how we are working with the Ramblers Association.

Rethink Walking for Wellbeing

This service holds fortnightly walks in four London boroughs (Ealing, Hackney, Lambeth and Barnet). Everyone is welcome to attend and people who have had experience of mental health issues are particularly welcome. All walks are health walks of up to an hour in length. The project is always looking for new volunteers to help run and coordinate the walks.

The project is part of the 'Time to Change' campaign which is launching a nationwide campaign at the end of January to highlight mental health stigma. There will be a campaign in the media, on TV and on the radio. 'Time to Change' also runs local projects aimed at encouraging people with experience of mental health problems to become more physically active - of which 'Walking for Wellbeing' is one.

If you would like to find out more about the project, please contact the Project Coordinator, Alison Bearn, on either 020 7840-3098 or email Alison.Bearn@rethink.org (Monday - Wednesdays only).

Working with the Ramblers

We are currently developing a project in Southwark that will establish health walks from GP surgeries, as well as providing patients with the option to participate in the Ramblers 12-week 'Get Walking, Keep Walking' project. WHI walks will support patients after the 12 weeks as a regular and sustainable activity.

Health Professionals in the surgeries will participate in motivational training and use this on their patients, also providing them with more information on activities in their local area.

To find out more information, please email Maria.Harrison@Southwark.gov.uk.

WHI Accreditation

The aim of accreditation is to set and maintain high standards for health walk schemes; to give potential users confidence about what to expect; to give participants, partners and funders added confidence; and to reassure users that the walks in their area are of good quality. Gaining accreditation can help to promote the credibility of a WHI Scheme, giving recognition to health professionals and potential funders.

Accreditation lasts for one year and there is a simple renewal procedure. So far 13 schemes have gained accreditation in London:

*      Hillingdon Healthy Walks
*      Newham Striders
*      Walk Active (Bromley MyTime)
*      Kensington & Chelsea Walking Alliance
*      Sutton & Merton's Healthy Walks Programme
*      Havering Walking for Health Initiative
*      Croydon Active Lifestyles Health Walks
*      Lewisham Healthy Walks
*      Islington Health Walks
*      Brent Healthy Walks
*      Walk Your Way To Health In Harrow
*      Solutions Walking for Health
*      Camden Health Walks

Gaining accreditation is very simple - requiring you to fill out a two-sided A4 page and providing various information. If you would like more information please contact Andy Jennings.

Walk Finder Webpage

Details of more than 500 WHI Schemes are included in the new Walk Finder <http://www.whi.org.uk/walkfinder/regions/London/3/0-0-0.html>  on the WHI website. We have made it very simple for Schemes to update their details online by using the link at the foot of their page, enabling the information to be more up-to-date than ever.

If your health walk scheme is not yet listed on Walk Finder, please fill in our on-line form <http://www.whi.org.uk/walkfinder/submit.asp>  to create a new Walk Finder page. We would also like to request that if you have not updated your Scheme's page within the last few months to please do so.

Funding

Heart Research UK 'Healthy Heart' grants support innovative projects designed to promote heart health and to prevent or reduce the risks of heart disease in specific groups or communities. Grants of up to £10,000 are available to community groups, voluntary organisations and researchers who are spreading the healthy heart message.

For further information, please go to the Heart Research <http://www.heartresearch.org.uk/healthy_heart_grants.htm>  website.

'Access to Nature' is a grant scheme run by Natural England on behalf of a consortium of major environmental organisations. Grants of between £50,000 and £500,000 are given to support projects that deliver one or more of the scheme's main outcomes.

For more information, please go to the Natural England <http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/leisure/grants-funding/>  website, or contact Joanna.Watson(at)remove-this.naturalengland.org.uk.

Evidence

Greenspaces Reduce Health Gap

The Lancet (Volume 372, No.9650) has published a study from Glasgow University this week on 'the effect of exposure to the natural environment on health inequalities'.

The study looked at the records of more than 366,000 people who died between 2001-2005, for diseases linked to health inequalities. It explored the reasons behind higher rates of disease linked to lifestyle, diet and, to some extent, access to medical care in areas of low income and social deprivation.

The results showed that populations exposed to the greenest environments halved their chances of fatality due to physical activity related diseases, whilst they also had the lowest levels of health inequality related to income deprivation. Therefore, the study showed that physical environments that promote good health might be important to reduce socioeconomic health inequalities.

NICE Guidance on Walking for the Elderly

NICE's recent guidance on 'Occupational therapy interventions and physical activity interventions to promote the mental wellbeing of older people in primary care and residential care' (published Oct 2008) flags up the importance of walking schemes in supporting healthy lifestyles and social inclusion in the elderly.

For more information on this, go to the NICE <http://www.nice.org.uk/Guidance/PH16>  website.

Learning Network / WHI Website

Take a look at the latest resources on the WHI website and Learning Network:

*            WHI Services in London <http://whi.net.countryside.gov.uk/cgi-bin/library.cgi?action=detail&id=6020&dir_publisher_varid=59>

*            Outdoor Health Questionnaire <http://www.whi.org.uk/results.asp?key=2537|0|3CB9715613341|p|971|0&parentkey=2537|0|3CB9715613341|p|971|0>  - the latest version containing new wording and minor tweaks.  

*            WHI Database Permissions Form <http://whi.net.countryside.gov.uk/cgi-bin/library.cgi?action=detail&id=5950>  - allows access to the database (please return this to Andy for authorisation).

*            Mail Merge Permissions Form <http://whi.net.countryside.gov.uk/cgi-bin/library.cgi?action=detail&id=6012&dir_publisher_varid=59>  - for access to the mail merge facilities on the database (please return this to Andy for authorisation).

*            Updated FAQs <http://whi.net.countryside.gov.uk/walkingschemefaqs.html>  answering questions on the database that are asked most often.

To access documents on the Learning Network <http://whi.net.countryside.gov.uk/> , you will have to sign up to as a member. It is a very simple process and only takes a few moments.

In this issue

Who are Natural England?

Database and Evaluation

Cascade Trainers

Insurance - Children

London Case Studies

WHI Accreditation

Walk Finder Webpage

Funding

Evidence

Learning Network/WHI Website

Dates for your diary

OHQ Database Training - Wednesday 25th February @ Ashdown House

WHI Network Event - Friday 3rd April @ Roots and Shoots

Useful contact

Andy Jennings

03000 600 887

07500 991 855

Useful Links

WHI Website <http://www.whi.org.uk/>

WHI Learning Network <http://whi.net.countryside.gov.uk/>

Natural England <http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/>

Feedback

If you have any article ideas for the next issue, or comments on this issue, we would like to hear from you. Please send us your feedback Andy.jennings(at)remove-this.naturalengland.org.uk.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries.