FAQs - WfH database

As you may be aware, Natural England is handing over the running of the WfH national centre and from April 2012 WfH is hosted by the Ramblers in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support. The new host is fully committed to the need to collect and manage walker data.

The WfH database will continue to be supported throughout the handover, though responsibility for managing it will pass to the Ramblers. The address to access it will change from 1 April to http://database.walkingforhealth.org.uk. Usernames and passwords will remain the same.

Natural England has taken steps to ensure personal details of walkers are not handed over to the Ramblers unless the walkers have consented to this. It has written two letters to all walkers who are recorded in the database as having been active on health walks recently, asking them to give their consent to information being handed over.

It has also produced a revised version of the Outdoor Health Questionnaire (OHQ) enabling walkers to indicate they are happy with their details being handed over, and included a new field on the database so this information can be recorded by schemes.

No personal details will be handed over unless a walker has

• responded positively to one of the letters or
• filled in the most recent version of the OHQ and been entered as consenting to transfer their details to the new host.

This means that after the handover, details of walkers who have not indicated they are happy with their details being transferred will no longer be available to anyone, including scheme coordinators and volunteers. So it is particularly important that walkers are encouraged to respond to the letters and that you use an up-do-date OHQ.

Walkers whose details are not handed over by NE will need to fill in the most recent version of the OHQ and be entered on the database again.

Historical data on participation in WfH will remain available but it will be anonymised, with personal details removed.

A national online database which holds information on walkers and walks, as input by walk schemes. It is managed by the Walking for Health national centre, and is provided by BTCV (formerly known as the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers). It was developed in conjunction with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in order to provide high quality evidence with which to evaluate walk schemes.

• Link to the database until 31 March 2012: https://www.naturalenglandwhidata.org.uk
• Link to the database from 1 April 2012: http//database.walkingforhealth.org.uk

It is for organisations that deliver walk schemes (Local Authorities, Primary Care Trusts, County Sports Partnerships, Voluntary Groups etc) to monitor and evaluate their schemes; and for the national centre to evaluate Walking for Health as a public health intervention and report the findings, helping to secure future national and local funding and support from government and other organisations.

It stores information about walkers taken from completed Outdoor Health Questionnaires, and information about walks and walk schemes as entered by you. Finally, joining it all together is the information from the walk registers that you collect, which provides a ‘walk history’ that can tell you such things as:

• Who is walking, by age band, gender, ethnicity, health condition etc.
• How many people are walking, how often, and for how many hours
• Total attendance over time
• Number of new walkers joining over time

And much more.

The information and reports available from the database provide you with evidence that enables you to:

• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of your Walk Schemes – are you achieving what you set out to achieve?
• Promote the success of your schemes using robust data.
• Report to funders and stakeholders.
• Track your progress, e.g. in targeting priority groups in your community.

Have a look at our Local Evaluation page for some tips on how to use the database to help in your monitoring and evaluation.

Since it went live in mid-2008, the database has been used by over 500 walk schemes.

It certainly is, though like anything it may take you a short while to get used to how it works.

Alan George, coordinator of Blyth Valley Walkers in Northumberland, says he was 'allergic' to IT systems until he was introduced to the WfH database. Now he enthusiastically updates the system after every walk and gives this advice:

A little extra effort early on ...makes it a doddle later.

A comprehensive guide is available in PDF and PowerPoint format:

• Download the database user guide

You can also check out our Local Evaluation page for some tips on how to use the database to help in your monitoring and evaluation.

Otherwise contact us if you require further support or training.

There are five main steps to using it:

1. Add details of your walk scheme
2. Add details of your walks
3. Add details of your walkers from their OHQs
4. Add your walk registers (on an ongoing basis)
5. Once all the above are done, you can run your reports

This is obviously up to you, but we recommend you do them as soon as you can after the walk, or perhaps set a time aside each week – it only takes a few minutes. This will prevent them stacking up, and will ensure your data is up-to-date and accurate.

Download the database permission form, complete part 1, pass it to your Scheme Co-ordinator or the WfH national centre for approval, and then simply wait for your login details to be emailed to you.

• Download the database permission form
• Contact us

No – the database holds the ‘core’ set of data needed to evaluate Walking for Health, and is not able to incorporate additional data.

Yes – walker records can only be accessed by

• Database users from the walker's own walk scheme
• A limited number of staff at the WfH national centre who work with the database.

Walker contact details (address, phone number etc.) are further protected - access to these is limited to those who need to view them, e.g. those responsible for inputting and editing walker details.

• Access to the database is by login only, and all new users must have their access approved by their Scheme Co-ordinator or WfH national centre member of staff.
• All user activity on the database is traceable in the event of misuse.
• The national centre regularly reviews and removes the login details of inactive users.

• Protect your login details – never share them, never let others use them, and never leave yourself logged in if others can access your computer.
• Let us know if your requirements of the database change.
• Let us know of any walkers that need to be deleted from the database.

We can only introduce new functions to the database where there is a clear need that benefits the majority of users, and where we have the budget and capacity to do so. If you have any suggestions please contact us.

For all matters regarding the database please contact the Walking for Health national centre.