GM Walking has given grants to local voluntary and community groups with the aim of getting Greater Manchester walking. We offered the grants to support a huge range of activities that encourage people who are usually less active to start or to increase the amount they walk regularly.
One of the groups benefitting from this was Global Vision Initiative, which is based in Manchester. Here we look at what they did and how they got on.
Who is Global Vision Initiative?
Global Vision Initiative is a charity whose goal is to empower people, particularly young people and those from ethnic minorities, to strengthen communities. They offer social sports, education, training and learning opportunities geared towards reducing social isolation and exclusion and encouraging healthy living.
Who took part in the project?
Global Vision Initiative engaged with 60 young and elderly people from ethnically diverse backgrounds, including Indian, Pakistani, Somali, Roma, Middle Eastern and Eastern European communities.
What did they aim to do?
The aim of this Alive project was to encourage local people to engage in group walks to reduce social isolation, promote healthy living and discuss issues surrounding health education.
How did it go?
Whilst 2020 was incredibly challenging due to COVID-19 and frequently changing restrictions, the project leaders were successful in thinking on their feet and adapting their project plan regularly to ensure they could still deliver it and continue working with the walkers. They complied with all social distancing measures and provided personal protective equipment and hand sanitiser to walkers to ensure their safety on the walks. When the Government’s ‘rule of six’ came in, they encouraged small socially distanced groups of up to six people to keep engaging in the walks as much as possible. This gave the participants some consistency and something to look forward to.
Feedback from participants
”Little steps count towards healthy living! Global Vision Initiative encouraged us to continue to take to walking singly or in groups as soon as COVID-19 lockdown measures were relaxed, keeping us active and healthy” (John)
