Getting started (health walk schemes)

The first essential steps are to attend some health walks and then complete the walk leader training.

The list of tasks below are a good starting point for getting your scheme up and running (or walking!). You will also find the PDF Action Checklist (Appendix 2) of use.

Insurance

Walking for Health provides free insurance for all health walk schemes in England and this covers all volunteer walk leaders. All Walk Leaders who have attended WfH walk leader training are automatically covered when leading recognised health walks for a recognised scheme.

Insurance information

Good practice

walk leaders should be trained
all routes should be risk assessed
walk leaders should be trained first aiders
registers should be completed for every walk
all walkers should complete an Outdoor Health Questionnaire
accurate records of risk management should be kept for the insurers
there should be a ratio of at least 1 walk leader to 20 walkers on each walk.

Route planning - 5 points to remember

When planning routes bear in mind that health walks should ideally be 20-60 minutes long so look for routes that are 1-3 miles in length.
Distance, terrain and location must be suitable for your walkers and volunteers.
Routes should be planned and risk assessed by scheme co-ordinators or trained walk leaders.
Build up a variety of walks to choose from so that your scheme can cater for a range of abilities and interests.
Some health walk schemes choose to grade their walks in terms of distance, time, terrain or pace.

Risk assessment

You will need to risk assess all health walks on a regular basis. This can be done by any volunteer walk leader who has attended the WfH training day or by the scheme co-ordinator.

Useful forms

We strongly recommend you complete these 3 pieces of paperwork as good practice and good risk management.

Outdoor Health Questionnaire (OHQ) - A simple 2-sided form (available in 14 languages) that each walker simply has to fill in at the start of their first walk. Your scheme is then required to input the data from the OHQs into the WfH national database (free training is available).
Health walk register - A register has to be completed at the start of each walk. Your scheme is then required to input the data from the registers into the WfH national database (free training is available).
Accident report form - Please ensure that this form is filled in, in the event of any accident, even if the person seems fully recovered.

WfH database

The WfH database stores the evaluation data gained from the Outdoor Health Questionnaires (OHQs) and the health walk registers. Training is available to enable each health walk scheme to enter the data from their OHQs and health walk registers onto the database.

What use is it to my scheme?

The information on the database is significant nationally because it is data that WfH can provide to health bodies and other partners but it is also important at a regional and local level.

When your scheme inputs its OHQ and health walk register data, you can obtain reports which answer all sorts of questions, such as the proportion of men and women on your walks; or how many walkers have an existing health condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure, etc.

What do I have to do?

Fill in the database permission form - this will enable your scheme to have access to the database.

Useful links:

Accreditation

Please note the accreditation process was suspended in November 2011. The Ramblers, the new host of the Walking for Health national centre, plans to reintroduce accreditation as soon as possible after April 2012. In the meantimea schemes accredited by Natural England will continue to be recognised even if they have passed their annual review date. Thank you for your patience during the handover period.

There are four excellent reasons to gain WfH accreditation for your scheme as it:

sets and maintains high standards for health walk schemes
gives potential walkers confidence about what to expect
gives participants, partners and funders added confidence
reassures users that the walks in their area are of good quality.

Accreditation is simple and straightforward to apply for, there is no fee involved and it provides a range of benefits. It is open to all health walk schemes .

More about the accreditation process

CRB checks

Currently there is no legal requirement for volunteers to be CRB checked if schemes are open to the general public and not wholly or mainly aimed at 'vulnerable' adults. This does not mean that some schemes might want to do it (or be asked to) anyway.

If you aren't sure whether your scheme needs to get CRB checks for its volunteers, check out our CRB and risk assessment FAQs.