Walking Connects

We know that walking for every day journeys, pleasure and health helps to keep people connected, increases independence, reduces isolation and benefits health. Despite this, too many people in later life face barriers to everyday walking.

Walking Connects works in partnership with older people to remove these barriers, helping to ensure that all generations enjoy the benefits of walking –  on our local streets, public places, at home or in care settings.

We’ve enjoyed some recent successes - delivering better access, improved streets, and the right infrastructure to keep our older participants active and socially connected through walking.

We’ve also come up against a number of challenges including a lack of understanding by decision-makers about the importance of good quality streets for walking for older people. 

There is also a need to ensure and support older people to be more involved in decision making about streets and spaces that meet their needs.

We’ve seen that working with older people themselves to identify and then act on small on-street improvements can make all the difference in helping keep active and keep connected.