Aylesbury communities encouraged to Walk and Talk

That is what residents living in parts of Buckinghamshire are being asked to do as part of a new health initiative to educate people about the benefits of sitting less and moving more.

The Active Communities pilot which is running in West Wycombe, Booker, Cressex & Castlefield, Abbey and Aylesbury North West began last month. It promotes the benefits that even small amounts of movement and exercise can have on our physical and mental health.

The Walk and Talk campaign which launched this week forms part of the Active Communities initiative. There are many ways we can make talking to each other more active:

Stand up or move around to make a phone call or go on social media

Have online and office meetings with regular standing or arrange to have walking meetings

Take regular standing breaks when on the computer or just stand up every time you press the send key on an email.

Arrange regular meetings with friends and family to walk together.

To sit alongside the scheme a range of Active Park Walks have been created at The Riverside and Haydon Hill Park in Aylesbury and Desborough Recreation Ground in Wycombe.

Carl Jackson, Buckinghamshire Council's Deputy Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing (Public Health) said: “The Walk and Talk scheme is the first of a number of campaigns and events linked to the Active Communities pilot. They promote easy ways for people to add a little movement into their everyday lives. Over time these simple acts of sitting less and standing and moving more can become part of our everyday routine without us even realising and so benefiting both our physical and mental health and wellbeing.”

To find out more about the Active Communities initiative and how to participate visit: www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/activecommunities