UK employees walked 2.7 times around the world for Walk to Work Week!

Thanks to all of you, the first ever Living Streets' National Walk to Work Week (27 April to 1 May '09) was a huge success! A grand total of 4558 employees from 530 workplaces took part in the week and collectively clocked up 38,528 miles which is 2.7 times around the world, saved 12,791 kg of carbon and worked off 3,852,838 Calories!

Here's what our Walk to Work Week participants said:

"The initiative has caused much hilarity amongst colleagues and certainly brought out our competitive spirit." Debbie McCormack, Muckle LLP

"Walking to work yesterday was challenging (five miles each way). Although I have to leave an hour earlier than usual to get to the office, by the time I arrive I am wide awake and feeling energised. I intend to continue walking to work whenever possible!!" Steve Winter, Ordnance Survey

"It has created a lot of healthy competition amongst staff...One member of staff said that she noticed she hadn't walked much during the day, therefore decided to go for a long walk in the evening." Nia Pain, Anglesey Local Health Board

"Monday was a lovely day to walk to work, although I did get caught in a shower of rain on my way. I passed by a wooded area which is carpeted with bluebells and even saw a rabbit grazing in the field. Looking forward to my walk home tonight!" Jane Buckner, West London Mental Health Trust

"Nothing major to report except that I have walked to work all week a total of 10.5 miles and I feel great, I am going to carry on doing it for the benefit of my health (and my weight I hope!!) I have realised that stiletto heels were not a plan after Monday so for the rest of the week it has been flats with the heels in my bag ready for when I get to work. Many thanks for arranging this event it was the push I needed" Rita, Greenwich Council

"I walked to the bus stop yesterday after work (about 25 minutes walk) and then caught the bus an extra two stops away so had to walk a bit further. The most fantastic thing happened. As I was walking along the road to the bus stop, there lying crumpled up on the pavement was a £5 note. No one was around to make me think they had dropped it, so I was the lucky finder of some money. So, walking home gained me £5 and lost me a few pounds in weight - so I am a winner all round!" Joy, Bournemouth

"The West End of Newcastle can sometimes be atmospheric when engulfed in a rainshower. So not wanting to break into a £20 note for bus fare, I walked home from work, from one part of the West End to the other, taking almost an hour, but felt very worth it, despite being soaked. This is a routine I do quite often." Ricky Thamman, Newcastle

"I'm a bit of a keep-fit fanatic so I am used to running and fitness classes - but I rarely walk anywhere. So this week I've been walking (and sometimes running) to and from work and to the gym as part of the Walk to Work Week and guess what - I've found new muscles I didn't know I had - mainly in the gluteus maximus area (polite word for the bum!). This walking lark is great and, unlike running, when I get very hot and out of breath, I can get to work still energised but not completely dishevelled. I will definitely be adding walking to my fitness regime. Thanks Livingstreets!"Ness, South Bournemouth Locality Team

"I felt really inspired by the challenges set by Walk to Work Week and have discovered new paths and areas in London. I work near Portobello Road and live in Highgate, so I have taken the plunge and walked home... I realised it will be quite hard to do this walk every day, so the next time I decided to jump off the tube at Kentish Town and walk to Highgate from there, which takes anything from 45 minutes to an hour. I take a different route each time and have discovered beautiful paths on and around Hampstead Heath which I hope to explore more in the future. Apart from the exercise and fresh air, I enjoy having control over my arrival times and the creativity involved in exploring new ways to and from work." Hanlie, London

"I've been needing to do some exercise to help with health problems I have, but as I am very overweight as well I could not get motivated to start anything. Walk to Work week was just what I needed! I have only managed to walk part of the way to work each day this week, but that is more than I have done for ages. Thank You!" Sheila, Tower Hamlets Community Housing

Here are our Walk to Work Week 2009 highlights:

• Media coverage in Hello, The Evening Standard, Weight Watchers Magazine, The Daily Star and various radio stations
• Living Streets and NHS London volunteers handed out walking maps to commuters at St James Park tube station every day during the week
• Marshalls' provided lunchtime walks at their offices in West Yorkshire for their staff
• Glaxo Smith Klein distributed walking maps of the local area around Brentford
• BSkyB in Osterley run Walk Doctor sessions for their employees
• MBT supported the Week by giving away five pairs of MBTs worth £145 each
• Thanks to AMT and Transport for London, certain AMT stands offered free water vouchers to participants
• Hammersmith Business Improvement District created a treasure hunt for Walk to Work Week for their companies and employees.
  

What did other organisations get up to?

In Leeds, Councillor Richard Brett led by example, and made his walk to work on foot despite heavy showers and says "there's no better way to get fit and keep fit than by walking". The Council have teamed up with journey planner walkit.com too, to help find and map the best routes around the city.

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) stepped out on a one-hour guided lunch-time walk around their working neighbourhood, where 30 staff members learned about the history of the area, the riots and the people of note who lived and worked around this historic part of Camden.

Karen Plimmer from Wolverhampton was walked so hard, she was flat out...

Down South, Rob and Simon from the Metropolitan Housing Partnership took walking home to the extreme- see their full journey here: met_housing_unit.pdf949.73 Kb

George and Roy walked 28 miles to work in the footsteps of Thomas Bewick (opens JPEG 447kb), an 18th century wood engraver from the Newcastle area

And finally, our very own member of staff, Anna Powell, created a photo diary depicting each leg of her epic 8 mile journey into the office! annas_photodiary.pdf1.47 Mb

Our winners!

One of our five MBT winners has said:

"I really enjoyed taking part in Walk to Work Week, it was a great incentive to do some extra exercise. As I work in a busy hospital department, it is easy to spend the whole day indoors but Walk to Work Week gave me the push I needed to get out and enjoy the lovely spring weather! Following the news that I had won a prize, my colleagues are now keen to give me some competition next year!" Fiona Bennett, Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS