The Mission

The aims of the programme are:

to promote walking as a health service

to reduce the barriers, and increase incentives, so that at least

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  • one third of the population of England walk at least 1,000 more steps daily within five years, and within this group that

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  • one-fifth of the population will be walking 3,000 additional steps a day five days a week (3,000 additional steps would equal thirty minutes of activity)The need to promote walking is because many people, including many health professionals, equate exercise with sport and gyms. While competitive sport has many benefits, and some harms, the importance of walking in disease prevention, health promotion, and the treatment of many chronic diseases is
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    • based on good scientific evidence
    • under-estimated and under-prescribed
    • easy to do and enjoyable
    • has the best LHH (likelihood of being Helped compared to being Harmed) ratio