22 episodes

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.

Voices of the Walk Paths for All

    • Arts
    • 5.0 • 1 Rating

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.

    Getting up, out and active with the Walk at Work Award

    Getting up, out and active with the Walk at Work Award

    Employers are facing new challenges and opportunities around how to reduce sedentary behaviour and prolonged periods of desk time.  The Office for National Statistics found 44% of people reported home or hybrid working, with 56% travelling to the workplace. 46% of those returning to working in the office were reportedly unable to work from home, with the remaining 10% choosing to work from the office, but able to work from home if they wished.

    The UK Chief Medical Officers' physical activity guidelines recommends a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per day for adults. However, many of us don’t yet meet this target.

    Promoting physical activity during the working day can offer incredible benefits to both employer and employee including improved physical health and mental wellbeing, reduced sick days, and increased productivity. Importantly, encouraging activities around movement can boost social cohesion amongst staff, and alleviates stress and anxiety.

    Launched in 2018, our Walk at Work Award is an accreditation scheme which recognises and celebrates the hard work and efforts of employers across Scotland to encourage physical activity in and around the working day. We offer support to workplaces who want to make positive changes in their working culture around three key themes - a healthier workforce, a greener workforce, and an active workforce.

    In this episode we welcome Sarah Turner, Development Officer in our Workplaces team. Sarah, who manages the Walk at Work Award scheme and our national Step Count Challenges, offers valuable insight into what the Award involves, and how to take part.

    We're also joined by Katrina Schofield, Sustrans Workplace Engagement Officer for NHS Grampian and Morven Sambrook, Physiotherapist whom together with the Healthy Working Lives group at Royal Cornhill Hospital, Aberdeen achieved their own Walk at Work Award by encouraging staff and patients to find new ways to stay physically active throughout the day. They explore how the Award has benefitted the physical, mental and social wellbeing of staff at the Royal Cornhill Hospital.

    Find out more about our Walk at Work Award here. 

    • 21 min
    Voices of the Walk Festive Special 2022

    Voices of the Walk Festive Special 2022

    This Christmas may feel a bit different for a lot of us, with the cost of living crisis and other pressures. So, we thought we’d ask some of the people we have worked with over the past year to reflect on how walking can help bring peace of mind during what can be a busy and demanding time of year. 
    We caught up with Dr Gemma Ryde, a researcher from the University of Glasgow, our artist-in-residence Alec Finlay, Shirley Gleeson, who delivered our expert lecture on connecting with nature, Kate Lesenger from Sustrans and Mandy Clement, who won our National Walking Month competition. 

    We hope you enjoy this special festive episode and we’ll be back in the new year with more episodes of Voices of the Walk. 

    • 10 min
    Smarter Choices, Smarter Places – supporting active and sustainable travel in local communities

    Smarter Choices, Smarter Places – supporting active and sustainable travel in local communities

    Active and sustainable travel is gaining momentum in line with Scotland’s ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions to net-zero by 2045. We continue to improve our health, create safer communities, and reduce environmental impacts by supporting more people in Scotland to walk, wheel, and cycle for everyday short journeys, or combine these with public transport for longer trips.
    To enable and empower communities to choose change travel habits, we need good infrastructure, coupled with encouragement, support and guidance on how to change attitudes and behaviours around how we travel. 
    But what is active and sustainable travel? What are the benefits of being active? And how can we, at Paths for All, support Scotland to change travel habits?
    In this episode of Voices of the Walk, we’re joined by members of our Smarter Choices, Smarter Places team who share with us how our Open Fund is supporting organisations and community groups across Scotland to design, plan and deliver a wide range of projects to get people walking, wheeling, cycling and using public transport.
    In 2022/23 with an uplift in funding and support from Transport Scotland, we’re awarding £5Million to projects which encourage active and sustainable travel in local communities. Our dedicated Smarter Choices, Smarter Places team provide the information, guidance and support to help with your application through our Open Fund, from discussion and design to delivery and evaluation.
    We’ll hear from Emma Hutchison (Senior Development Officer) and James Gray (Development Officer) who share with us what active and sustainable travel means, and the incredible benefits communities can enjoy by being active. They’ll also discuss stand out projects supported by our Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Open Fund.

    • 19 min
    The Step Count Challenge, counting steps to a happy, healthy workplace

    The Step Count Challenge, counting steps to a happy, healthy workplace

    Every year, thousands of people from workplaces across Scotland take part in the Step Count Challenge, an online walking challenge where teams of five record their walking activity over eight weeks, compete on a virtual leader board and hopefully have a bit of fun with their colleagues along the way. The challenge has been running annually for over 10 years and more than 30 billion steps have been recorded in that time.  
    But, as we’ll hear from our guests, the challenge is more than just a leader board. 
    In this episode of Voices of the Walk, five participants in this year’s spring Step Count Challenge tell us why they are taking part and what they hope to get from it. 
    We hear from ACOSVO’s Pat Armstrong, Scotways’ Richard Barron, Paths for All’s Emma Anderson, Parkinson UK’s Lorna Fraser and Joe Hamill from Bells Food Group. 
    They talk about how walking has helped them connect with their colleagues, provide space to think and clear the head, and challenge themselves to build walking in and around their busy working day.   
    www.stepcount.org.uk 

    • 14 min
    Expert Lecture Series 2022: The Highlights

    Expert Lecture Series 2022: The Highlights

    In this special episode of Voices of The Walk we revisit the highlights from our Expert Lecture Series for 2022. The lectures were held over three days in February, with each session exploring one of the key themes of our new Step It Up strategy – that walking is for everyone, everywhere and every day.

    We were joined by three engaging speakers, well-known for their expertise and fantastic work to empower communities to walk more for physical, mental and social well-being.

    Bronwen Thornton, CEO of Walk21, tackled the everywhere theme, exploring how we can make our towns and cities more walkable. Bronwen delivered a summary of the work of Walk21, with global insight on walkability, measurement of walking and translating national strategies into delivery.

    Bronwen was followed by Backbone CIC founder and Director Pammy Johal who focussed on inclusion, diversity and equality and how we can take steps to involve everyone in activity. Pammy spoke passionately about her personal experiences and of her groundbreaking work bringing wider access to the outdoors to Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups.

    Finally, our Expert Lectures closed with Lisa O'Keefe, Director of Insight at Sport England, who explored challenging social norms to build physical activity into everyday life. Lisa gave attendees an inspirational insight into the challenges and research behind the impactful This Girl Can campaign.

    If you’d like to find out more about events hosted by Paths for All, be sure to visit the ‘What’s On’ section of our website or sign up to our e-news at www.pathsforall.org.uk/subscribe.

    Watch Bronwen Thornton's lecture, or to view the presentation, click here.

    To view Lisa O'Keefe's presentation, click here.

    • 16 min
    Walking for health, wellbeing and the environment

    Walking for health, wellbeing and the environment

    In this episode we are joined by Orla and Jeff, who featured in our 2021 Humans of the Walk exhibition. They share their reflections on the huge impact walking has made to their health, work and everyday life. 

    Our Humans of the Walk exhibition shared life-changing stories and powerful portraits exploring why walking is so important to the people of Scotland and how it can help us live happier, healthier and greener lives. 

    You can view the full exhibition of portraits in our online Humans of the Walk gallery and share why walking is important to you on social media using #HumansoftheWalk 

    • 11 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
1 Rating

1 Rating

The Eye of Wisdom ,

Nice to see another Scottish walking podcast!

Scotland is ideal for walkers and a podcast like this along with the Walk Fife podcast really help to encourage people to get outside and explore our wonderful countryside - looking forward to listening to more shows!

Top Podcasts In Arts

Something Rhymes with Purple
Sony Music Entertainment
Dish
S:E Creative Studio
Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware
Jessie Ware
Comfort Eating with Grace Dent
The Guardian
Should I Delete That?
Alex Light & Em Clarkson
The Archers Omnibus
BBC Radio 4