STEP BY STEP

Walking is more than just a way to get from A to B, it’s a low-impact, accessible and social form of exercise that continues to grow in popularity. By embracing walking as both a fitness activity and a sustainable transport option, operators can attract a broader audience and make a positive impact

Recent research highlights walking’s widespread appeal. A November 2024 study from Vitality Insurance found that 64% of women prefer walking as their main form of exercise. Meanwhile, the Health Foundation reports that 76.5% of adults walk at least once a month, with 43.4% walking three times a week and 31.8% walking five times or more. With such widespread participation, walking can serve as a gateway to broader fitness habits, and for leisure centres and gyms presents a unique opportunity to engage with communities that may never have stepped inside a facility. It offers the potential to boost memberships and align with both private and public-led sustainability goals. Even though walking activities often take place out of the leisure facility, this doesn’t mean customers are walking away from the leisure centre. In fact, walking opens doors.

WellNation explored the way operators are integrating walking to their programming and activities across the UK, asking leisure operators to showcase some of their best practices.

PEOPLE

Mike Lyons, CEO, Horizon Leisure: Walking programmes can help operators tap into new audiences, including older people, those with injuries or in rehab and those who are looking for friendship. They can do this through offering guided group walks, walking sports – such as football or netball – or confident walking sessions for people aged 60+.

We work in collaboration with our local Vine Medical group to run monthly walking sessions, signposted by the GPs, for people who are struggling with loneliness, social isolation and anxiety. The sessions give their patients the opportunity to get out of their homes and get moving, while meeting other local people.

We also work with ‘Get Up and Go’, a Havant Council project funded by Hampshire County Council, to organise walking netball, walking cricket (dementia friendly) and walking football at our leisure centres. Interest in all of these has really expanded, with our walking netball regularly attracting 70 plus players a month.

Our walking sport sessions happen at non-peak times during the day to target those that may have retired, meaning the activities don’t clog up our sports halls at peak times, which are often dedicated to after school activities.

The sessions give their patients the opportunity to get out of their homes and get moving, while meeting other local people

Julie Meakin, Practice Manager, Vine Medical Group: Working in partnership with Horizon Leisure has been a positive collaborative approach, helping patients that might need social direction and the ‘worried well’ to take a more proactive approach to their health. The monthly health walks start from one of our surgeries in Waterlooville, Hampshire and are led by an expert from Horizon Leisure. It’s been incredibly powerful to see friendships blossom, as well as watching people learn to manage their health or emotional wellbeing better.

The walks also shift perceptions of what a GP practice offers. Patients begin to see us as more than just a place for medical treatments and prescriptions. Having both a fitness expert from Horizon and a healthcare professional from the surgery on the walks provides an added level of reassurance and encouragement, making a real difference in people’s lives. The partnership also helps patients see how health and fitness connect, making them more comfortable to engage in programmes and activities that Horizon Leisure offers.

PEOPLE

Amy Brittain, Healthy Lifestyles Programme Manager, Mytime Active: We organise four wellbeing walks a week in the Midlands. Participants start to feel a sense of belonging in a harmonious group during the warmer months and so are more likely to transition to our leisure centres and wellbeing hubs in the winter when the weather turns.

Linda (77) and Norman (73) started taking part in the wellbeing walks as part of a six-week Fresh Start Friendly programme at Mytime Active’s Hatchford Brook Golf Centre and Gym.

Linda explains: “From the very first session we met lovely, like-minded people and quickly hit it off. The personalised approach was especially helpful for my husband who is registered blind. We liked the guided walks around the park and workouts tailored to our individual abilities. But what we loved most was the social side. After a walk or workout, we’d gather in the café for coffee and conversation. Walking and talking, what’s not to love!

“We continued our membership after the six-week programme and now visit twice a week to meet our new friends. We paused our walks for the winter, but with the sun starting to shine again we’re looking forward to resuming. We both feel more agile, fitter, healthier and happier.”

Lisa Arrandale, Active Communities Officer, Life Leisure: At Life Leisure in Stockport, walking is extremely important to our community programme and we have created a pathway that includes walks for all ages and abilities, with a clear progression route.

The walking programme is funded through external investments like grant funding and partnerships with other organisations, allowing us to share resources and staff. Over the past two years, we’ve developed a strong walking network locally with other charities, including Age UK, to create the Stockport Walking Network Forum, which helps with funding opportunities, walk leader training, setting up new walks, and promoting existing ones.

The programme, which coexists alongside our leisure offer, includes 150 hours of indoor/outdoor walking opportunities for the community, from gentle indoor ‘Confidence Walks’ and Nordic walking, all the way through to four-hour plus walking challenges. Over the last 12 months we’ve experienced approximately 1,500 visits.

We also support events and led our first inclusive ‘move to a mile’ programme as part of the annual ‘Stockport Moves’, which was a fantastic opportunity to support a large cohort of people to walk in a guided event. We also participate in the GM Active Walking festival.

Recently we have worked with primary schools to create local walks and make them more interesting to encourage children to walk more locally and hopefully spur other members of their family to do the same.

Walking is extremely important to our community programme and we have created a pathway that includes walks for all ages and abilities

Jo Cherrett , CEO, Trafford Leisure: At Trafford Leisure, sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to making our facilities as eco-friendly as possible, with a clear pledge to cut carbon emissions by 5% year on year, working towards net zero by 2030.

Walking directly aligns with our sustainability goals, not just for the environment but for our communities across Trafford’s’ health too. Not only do we want more people walking to our centres, but we are actively encouraging participation in activities such as Walking Football.

We have already introduced schemes to support our staff in walking and cycling to work, reducing their reliance on cars and lowering our environmental impact. The next step? Encouraging more of our customers to walk to our centres, helping to reduce pollution, ease local traffic congestion, and incorporate walking as part of their wellbeing. On National Fitness Day, our staff and key stakeholders took this commitment further, walking between all our sites across the borough, engaging with the local community at schools, medical practices and community centres to promote active, sustainable lifestyles. We are also working with local schools to encourage walking to Swim School lessons instead of relying on costly, polluting coach travel. Looking ahead, we’re exploring step-tracking rewards, walking challenges and partnerships with local businesses to further incentivise members to swap car journeys for walking.