Key statistics

Presented here are some key statistics relating to Walking for Health (WfH). Figures are for the calendar year 2011 unless otherwise stated.

How many people?

The average walk attendance was over 14 walkers on each walk, up from 13 in 2010 (and 11 in 2008!). Just think, if everyone brought a friend along we could push this figure even higher!

As of the end of 2011, we estimate that over 75,000 walkers take part in WfH each quarter.

Who is walking?

This is our typical walker, but don’t be fooled: WfH appeals to a wide range of people! Read on to find out the profile of those who take part in WfH.

WfH has a very strong appeal to women! Compare this to other surveys– such as the Active People Survey (APS) or Measure of Engagement with the Natural Environment (MENE) – that show a very equal gender split of those who enjoy recreational walking.

If deprivation were no barrier to people taking part in WfH, then we would expect an even split of walkers from the most- and least- deprived areas of the country. Currently though, a higher proportion come from less-deprived areas, and this is something we want to address.

One of WfH’s ‘target groups’ is people aged over 65 – and we’re doing pretty well at this! On the other hand, we have a relatively small proportion of walkers under 55 and we are looking into what we can do attract more of these.

The 2001 Census tells us that 9.1% of the population of England come from a Non-White background. Compare this to 5% of WfH walkers, and we have a clear opportunity to expand this particular ‘market’.

One of our targets is to help sedentary people (2 or fewer days) move to a more active lifestyle (3 or more days). However, the majority of walkers joining WfH are already active, so we need to consider how we can attract more sedentary people.

Accreditation

This is the number of schemes who held WfH accreditation at the end of 2011. These schemes benefit from added credibility, recognition and exposure; while walkers and funders alike can feel confident in the quality of the walk programme being provided.

WfH database figures

This is the 2011 Walk History as captured on the WfH Database from information entered by schemes. In fact, most of the stats on this page come from the database, so if your walk scheme isn’t using it yet, take a look at what it can provide!

WfH Database FAQs