Carers Stepping Out into Nature with NHS

Aim

Please help us support the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic by raising funds for walks for carers and the people they care for.

Carers Stepping Out into Nature with NHS Social Prescribing - a Covid 19 Project

The impact of COVID-19 on Carers and those they care for has been devastating. 

Carers and the people they care for have suffered in so many ways from the Covid19 pandemic.

•physical inactivity

•mental distress, loneliness & isolation

•loss of social confidence

Walking in beautiful natural surroundings, amongst friends, enjoying fresh air and spectacular scenery is one of the simplest and finest antidotes to all they have endured. If only the walks could be offered on the NHS…..WELL, NOW THEY CAN! 

Stepping Out with Carers CIC has been offering walks like these since 2016 and has now teamed up with the NHS in Hertfordshire to offer them to people struggling after lockdown and their carers as a wonder drug with only beneficial side-effects.

The positive power of walking can benefit people with: 

•diabetes
•cardiovascular health issues
•cancer
•lung disease
•arthritis
•back pain
•dementia and other mental health issues and act as a life-enhancing, mood-lifting, vitamin D-absorbing, muscle-toning all-round joy.

WHAT we’re doing.

Putting on walks (one long & brisk, one shorter & easier) in beautiful places for NHS patients and their carers for the rejuvenating, life-enhancing benefits the natural world & new friends can provide.

*These walks will be smaller, socially-distanced, risk-assessed and observing all necessary anti-Covid19 precautions when government regulations apply and revert to full size as soon as conditions allow.

WHY it’s important.

So many people and their carers, especially during the pandemic, struggle with fitness, isolation and mental health. Meeting other people and doing something as simple as supported walking - with friendly volunteers in glorious surroundings - can change a bad day to a good one with lasting positive effects.

HOW you can help.

This is a pioneering project.  Your donation will open a door. It will help remove all the barriers to an outdoor adventure that people who have been confined largely in their homes due to illness or disability or mental health issues have been unable to access.

WHY DO WE NEED £12,000?

Every penny raised in this appeal will go towards the production of the Stepping Out/NHS walks.

It will pay towards:

•  a 12-months programme of walks throughout Hertfordshire.
•  entry costs/car parking to wonderful venues like gardens, stately homes & their grounds, forests, woodlands, National Trust and English Heritage Properties, country parks and sport centres.
•  transport for people who would not otherwise be able to attend to and from the event. eg. Community buses and specially provisioned wheelchair taxis.
• lunch for everyone after the walks.
•  training for volunteers in first aid, dementia awareness, walk leadership.
•  publicity materials like flyers, banners, posters to reach as many people as possible.
•  photos, films and social media coverage to capture the memories of a wonderful day & help spread the word.
•  independent evaluation to assess this project with view of providing template for ultimate adoption nationwide.

We need to raise £12,000 to make sure we can continue to offer these fantastic walks to Carers and those they care for.

A day out with all the stresses removed is our way of saying thank you for the quiet heroic lives they have been leading - not just for the last six months but, in some cases, for years and decades before that.

You could improve the lives of Carers and those they care for by making a donation today and supporting future walks for so many.

We also know that publicity is crucial for our campaign, so please help us spread the word on social media: 

Twitter @carersstepout 

Facebook @carersstepout

Instagram @carersstepoutuk 

https://carerssteppingout.co.uk

Please help us, this unique partnership between Stepping Out and the NHS, to raise the funding to support carers and the people they care for - and put a spring in their step. 

Thank you for your support.

This project successfully funded on 30th October 2020