Walk your way

About me - Tracey - founder

In 2014, my, soon to be Husband got diagnosed with terminal cancer and he later died in December 2018.  It was a long fight on his behalf and a lot of caring on mine.  During that period, I believed I was coping very well, and I was prepared for the end.  I was wrong! After his death I was very isolated, no one knew what to say or do, depression was setting in and I was going for walks on my own, which left me very paranoid.  I soon became aware that the 4 years of caring had taken its toll on me physically and emotionally.  Then the country was hit by COVID, working remotely I soon realised, that I wanted to make a difference to people’s lives by setting up Root Training and providing group and 1-1 walks, to support the mental health and wellbeing for those that have a long term health condition, feel isolated or need a safe outdoor space with a low impact walk to improve their fitness.

Research

Within the UK we have an aging population which is increasing and is having a huge impact on our NHS and health and social care providers.  With this service it will help support the 3 main goals of the “Future of Aging” project conducted by the Government which was last updated in 2017.  These are to: maintain wellbeing throughout life, for all individuals regardless of their generation, improve quality of life for older people and enable them to participate more fully in society and ensure everyone can access the tools and facilities to help them live a long and healthy life.

Referrals

We have received over 82 referrals for our current service, and more referrals arriving each week, from Doctors, Social Prescribers, Inclusion Cornwall, and the NHS.  Our retention level is high with 69.5% of the people returning.  Therefore, proving that there is a need for the service, and we are having a social impact on people lives, providing a quality service for our local communities.  We are Parkinson Awareness Trained, and qualified Walk/run coaches with England Athletics Society.

What people say

What are we tackling

Our Community walking hourly groups are delivered by Tracey Opie on a weekly basis currently covering the local towns and seeking funds to support Hayle and Helston. These walks are a mixture of what we call an amble, for those with long term health conditions and have very low mobility, this provides a safe, flat environment using our local parks and coastal locations.  Our active walk is for those more mobile but still have a condition.  Although our focus is with people with a long term health condition, disabilities, we are open to supporting anyone that is in need, from victim support, carers and parents.  

Our National Lottery funding ended in April 2023. We have received 82 referrals for our current group service, with more referrals arriving weekly, from Doctors, Social Prescribers, Inclusion Cornwall, and the NHS.  Our retention level is high with 69.5% of people returning. The people we support, comment, that it is a great service, they look forward to seeing me each week and it means the world to them.   Feedback is collected during the walks by writing in the sand, comments like: it makes them happy, brighter, fitter, healthier and a space to share thoughts and gets me out the house.  

Our governance is made up of 3 directors, with Tracey Opie managing and delivering the programmes.  We would like to continue with our group community walks in some of the most deprived towns in Cornwall.   

Continuation of making a difference your donations will 

The monies raised with fund walk leader time and travel costs, to enable us to raise awareness of the social impact and enable us to grow long term plus offering more services and reaching more people longer term. 

We believed prior to the cost of living crisis some, not all people would be able to contribute to the groups walks if funding was not gained.  However, this is now unlikely, and this service is more vital now, more than ever.  Due to lack of funding for longer term contracts we feel that reaching out and securing this Crowdfund will enable us to continue our core activity which is our walking groups.  We and those that we support believe that if this service was no longer available, it would have a negative impact on their mental and physical health and wellbeing. 

There is clear evidence that from our previous funders: Active Cornwall, Volunteer Cornwall, The National Lottery Community Fund and Healthy Cornwall our services are required and are a viable and vital service needed by those that serve the local community as well who benefit from it.

Community Impact

• Our community walks will prevent isolation, provide structure to their week, make them healthier and fitter to those that have a long term health condition therefore, having less impact on the NHS and social care services, not matter of their age. It will also enable them to build friendships and provide a topic of conversation for some, that are carers.  Using the countryside and coastal areas, enables us to embrace the great outdoors, take photos and have the impact of being in the fresh air.  During our walks, we often complete litter picks to help protect the communities and animals from being damaged by the plastic and rubbish that is left on your beaches and countryside areas, therefore doing our bit to support the climate change.  Our group walks will be a FREE weekly hourly activity over the towns of Hayle and  Helston For some people this will be short term activity and for others this maybe a long term service, delivering to the people in some of the most remote and deprived towns in Cornwall.  

During our walks, people are provided with advice and guidance on how to stay healthily, keep warm and how to save money.   In addition, they are advised on what else is happening in their local communities and signposted to other agencies to gain further support. We work with the referrers to keep people safe.