Somerset Health Walks: Another Year of Moving Together
April 2024 – March 2025
Somerset Health Walks continue to support people across the county to move more, feel better and stay connected through simple, welcoming walks in local communities and have been doing so for almost 30 years. Designed to be inclusive and accessible, our Health Walks help remove barriers to physical activity, particularly for people living with long-term health conditions or those who may feel isolated or less confident about being active.
Between April 2024 and March 2025, we delivered 1,940 Health Walks across Somerset, a number that is ever-growing as we introduce new walks to the county. Over the year, this resulted in 23,228 walk attendances, with 2,415 unique walkers registered, supported by 185 trained Walk Leaders, including 38 new leaders trained to help grow and sustain the programme.
Health Walks play an important role in supporting people who need them most. 67% of our walkers live with a long-term health condition, and feedback continues to show the positive impact walking regularly can have. When comparing our initial health surveys, which we send to all participants who have agreed, with follow-ups one year later, walkers with long-term health conditions reported improvements in overall fitness of up to 89%, improved mood and general wellbeing of up to 70%, and better physical function for everyday tasks of up to 47%, clearly showing that even a small bit of physical activity can go such a long way to helping managing these conditions.
The quality and consistency of our walks remain a key strength. Walkers rated meeting point information highly (90%), along with the accuracy of walk level information (86%) and the accessibility of the walks themselves (83%). Satisfaction remains high, with 78% of walkers saying they would highly recommend Somerset Health Walks, and for the second year running, two-thirds of respondents rated the walks a 10 out of 10.
We continue to listen to feedback from our walkers and make improvements where possible, including offering more walks in different locations, improving information on our website, and making meeting points clearer and easier to find.
Somerset Health Walks remain a simple but powerful way to promote movement, connection and time outdoors, supporting people across Somerset to stay active, independent and connected in their communities to achieve our mission of creating a Happier, Healthier Somerset.
Here is what some of our walkers said,
"I really enjoy our weekly health walks. I've made some good friends and it's great for our physical and mental health too. It's all about meeting lots of friendly people whilst getting exercise, I've been a widow for five years so beats staying home alone".
"The walks improve my overall mood and fitness without overreaching. I enjoy meeting new people with the same goals, I feel energised after each walk. I love learning new places to walk safely in my own area".
"My health walk is immediately inclusive and friendly. It's a fantastic opportunity to get out and explore the lovely countryside around with great company and enables me to feel energised".
"I have walked with this group for about 5 years now and found the health benefits helped me to cope with my asthma and COPD whilst increasing overall fitness. The friendship aspect was also a great benefit".