Community and Connection: Our Walking Challenge

On the morning of our 20km walking challenge I made my way through the sunny streets of Camberwell to meet Malika Mohamed, the coordinator of Living Streets South London Somali Women’s group. I was feeling a rushing mix of both nerves and excitement. 

Was the sunshine going to hold out for us? Would I be up to the challenge of making it through the entire 20km route? And even more crucially – would the streets we were going to spend so much time walking down be able to meet our needs?

But my worries melted away the moment I met Malika. We had a lovely breakfast together before the start of the walk, sharing stories about our twin loves of food and walking, and fuelling up for the day to come.

The camaraderie continued as we joined the walk and the last wisps of my worry faded away. The joy that lit up the whole group was infectious and only grew as we all walked together. I found both the time and the kilometres flying by as we laughed, chatted, and appreciated the beautiful urban greenspaces we were walking through.

Our route followed a 20km path mapped out through six wonderful public parks in South London. Starting in Burgess Park the group moved on through Kennington Park, Myatt’s Field Park, Ruskin Park, Dulwich Park before ending in Brockwell Park followed by prayers at a local mosque and a shared celebratory meal. 

As we explored each new green space we were given interesting insights into its history by Mohammed Ismail, coordinator of Living Streets South London Somali Men’s group. We learned about unique historical features of each park, as well as Mohammed’s personal favourite routes through each one.

It was really special to learn about the history of the areas as we were walking through them. It fostered a real sense of connection to the space; as well as connection to each other as we talked over what we were learning.

Mohammed knows the power that walking has to build this connection – both to people and to place – and it is a big factor in why the group organises their annual walking challenge. 

I felt these benefits in real time as I walked alongside the group. People were delighted to take up space together, so much so that they were walking extra loops of the parks, rejoicing in the opportunity to walk and talk alongside one another, and to increase their step counts.

People were also celebrating the chance to speak freely in their language and reconnect with old friends that they hadn’t seen in years. Yasin Aweys, who participated in the walk, said “It was amazing and wonderful event after waiting for a whole year to be part of this year’s walking challenge. I am very privileged to have attended, and it was wonderful to reconnect with one of my roommates from 25-30 years ago. “I am very satisfied to know that I could walk 20km in one go!”

These feelings of exuberance also drew us towards adventure. Mohammed led us down a seemingly nondescript side street that he had discovered while mapping the route for the walk. We were all curious about where it would lead. And then we found ourselves looking over an open air community velodrome. There were people taking cycle lessons, riding tandems together, and using bicycles equipped to meet their mobility needs.

None of us knew that the velodrome had been there the whole time. We only discovered it through walking together. Malika shared with me how happy it made her to learn about this community resource, and to know that it was a part of her neighbourhood. We all carried on with the rest of the walk with huge smiles on our faces.

Malika and I spoke more as we continued the walk. I caught up with her about what the Living Streets South London Somali Women’s group has been up to over the past year, and the importance of their regular walks.

She told me that no matter the weather, or the stresses and troubles they have faced during the day, the group runs multiple weekly sessions to walk through their local parks together. She explained how important it was for herself – and for all the women who joined on their walks – to have something so joyful to depend upon and look forward to. She said that all the women needed the opportunity to take a break from the pressures of domestic and working life, and to connect to other women who understand and share their lived experiences. They were able to share their problems together, she said, and they left the walks feeling lighter than when they joined.

Malika also shared that the power of the connections on these walks was so great that women come along to the walks every week, no matter the weather or season. Even in the depths of winter the women venture out and keep talking and walking and helping to keep each other warm.

But to keep these communities and connections strong the groups need to see change. They would like to see improvements to their streets to make sure that their walking environments meet their needs and help them to keep walking week on week, year on year.

Their central focus is on inclusivity; they want to be able to open up and welcome new participants to walk alongside them. But unfortunately our streets aren’t accessible to everyone. So many people are deterred from walking due to inaccessible street environments caused by issues like pavement parking, or poor design. A lot of people too have concerns around road safety and vehicle speeds and are put off from experiencing the joys of walking because of this.

Mohammed said that the groups want to encourage everyone to walk every day and that proper active travel infrastructure is essential to ensure that this is possible. He also reflected on the crucial role that walking plays in bringing his community together.