Training and support

We provide a range of free services to support health walk schemes and develop volunteers.

Full information is provided in Guidance note 5: Training and support (opens pdf). Below is a summary of what is on offer, with links to more information on this website.

On this page:

• What we provide
• How to book
• Costs
• FIrst aid training

What we provide

Free Cascade Trainer 'Walk Leader' training: a 1-day course provided to volunteers or professionals who wish to train volunteer walk leaders locally either for their own scheme or other local schemes.

• Become a cascade trainer

Free 'refresher' training for Cascade Trainers: refresher training is also available twice a year to help you maintain your skills.

Free training in additional modules: as our training programme develops, we plan to offer training such as

• mental health awareness issues
• the Disability Discrimination Act
• equal opportunities
• targeting Black and Minority Ethnic and other hard to reach groups
• developing skills in the natural environment.

Free training for Volunteer Walk Leaders: a 1-day course for anyone willing and able to lead walks in the community. It is a day of practical advice and includes practice in leading a walk and information on keeping people motivated.

• Become a walk leader

Free OHQ database monitoring and evaluation training: all schemes are required to use our data collection processes.

Free access to training materials: the training section of our website offers a range of materials, tips, advice and a forum for sharing best practice. You'll need to be registered to access this area of the site.

• Access the training section

Free walk leader insurance: all schemes that have Walking for Health trained walk leaders are automatically covered under the Walking for Health insurance policy.

• Insurance FAQs

Accreditation: ensures that high standards are set and maintained for all Walking for Health schemes. There are many benefits to becoming an accredited scheme. It’s quite straightforward and costs nothing.

• Accreditaton FAQs

Promotion: all schemes can promote their walk scheme via our WalkFinder tool and there are ideas and other resources on this website. You can even send us good news stories to post to this site.

Regional networking opportunities: we have regular informal networking events to share knowledge and experiences with other schemes and WfH staff.

• Contact us

How to book

If you need to organise training but don’t have access to a Cascade Trainer, please consult the training calendar. If no events can be found please contact us. Although in some cases it may be necessary to find trainers by contacting other local schemes.

Costs

Walking for Health encourages cascade trainers not to charge for volunteer walk leader training (other than for venue hire and out of pocket expenses).

If volunteers are expected to pay for training, this could exclude some people, and this goes against what Walking for Health is trying to achieve.

First aid training

Scheme co-ordinators often arrange for first aid or ‘Heartstart’ training for volunteer walk leaders. We do not insist that walk leaders are first aid trained, however, we strongly recommend it.

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