To help increase their fitness levels and raise funds for a good cause, some of the staff from the Public Health Department and the Guernsey Chest and Heart charity are counting their steps to walk the equivalent distance of 40,075 kilometre (24,900 mile) long challenge around the world.
The team of 13 from Public Health and 6 from Guernsey Chest and Heart LGB, are using the World Walking Charity website and app to record their steps. The app gives them a virtual tour of their journey with information on many of the sights along the way and allows each walker to bank their steps and add to the total.
The group started walking at the beginning of April and walked the distance of 388,682 steps across the England /Scotland border as a test to see how they got on. They have now decided to walk the equivalent of 58,436,089 steps to ‘travel’ across 4 continents and through 16 countries from the southern tip of South America to the Royal Observatory in London by the end of September.
Jo Rocha, Health Protection Nurse found the app and encouraged her colleagues to take part. She said “Walking is a simple form of physical activity that brings us plenty of health benefits such as improving cardiopulmonary function, strengthening muscles and bones as well as reducing anxiety, depression and the risk of chronic diseases. Some of us were already walking regularly but we decided that using this app and counting our steps together gives us a focus and is helping us to walk more. And of course we are also raising funds for a great cause – the Guernsey Chest and Heart LBG. The World Walking App was devised by cardiac rehabilitation instructor Duncan Galbraith from an equivalent charity in Scotland so we decided it was appropriate for us to support our Chest and Heart Unit. We are delighted that their staff have decided to join us too.”
Caroline Ogier, Guernsey Chest and Heart Centre Manager said “we are very pleased to be joining the Public Health staff on the walking challenge. The health benefits of walking are many and it’s a very simple way of increasing your physical activity levels and keeping your heart healthy.”
Further information about the Guernsey Chest and Heart LGB can be found on their website https://www.chestandheart.org.gg/about-us/ or to book a screening call 237261.
The World Walking app can be accessed here https://worldwalking.org/about and is open to individuals or groups to pick from short and long walks around the UK, Europe and the World.