Blog

By Bernadette, Tahreen and Shahnaz, Co-founders of Running Aunties  

"At first, I couldn’t run, I could only walk. I was unsure about running but I was told we could walk and build up to running. I couldn’t believe it when I completed the 0 to 5K programme." - Tahreen

On the 1st of February we held our first walking workshop. Walking, plodding, strolling, stomping or in some cases rolling; whatever you do and prefer to call it, our workshop was set up so that residents can help us to make it easier for everyone in Calderdale to take that first step out of their doorway.

We believe that walking is the activity with the highest potential to be built into the everyday lives of Calderdale residents. Our workshop was set up to:

In December 2020, Active Calderdale launched the Take Ten Step Out Challenge. Why? Our answer is simple: it's now more important than ever to get active for our physical and mental health, but the dark winter months and COVID restrictions have made it challenging for many people across the borough.

The Step Out Challenge was a campaign that celebrated something you can do throughout the pandemic – go for a walk outside! The challenge we set for people taking part was to step out of the house every day for at least 10 minutes.

During the lockdown in early 2020, the voluntary and community sector in Calderdale saw a 73% decrease in the number of volunteers engaging. This resulted in less income generation, which had an impact on those who rely on the sector for essential support such as food, medicine deliveries, and social interaction.

After an eventful end of the year, with visits from Sport England and a funding submission, it was back to business as usual for Active Calderdale in January. Here are the highlights from January 2020:

Everyone knows they need to be more physically active but mustering the motivation to change, and sustaining change over time, is very hard. We know that changing behaviour is driven by a combination of: