GM Daily Mile Toolkit: Groups, Organisations and Service Providers in the Community

1. Developing a Group GM Daily Mile Walk

The GM Walking  7 Steps to Success Guide  will help you to achieve your vision. It includes further information, tips and useful links on the following 7 steps;  

1. Setting aims, outcomes & targets-helping you to focus your energies on the right things.
2. Consulting with others-finding out what your target audience want, when and how.
3. Sharing the health & wellbeing benefits– supporting others to recognise the benefits of walking. (also see  Section 2 Sharing the Health & Wellbeing Benefits of Walking)
4. Planning-identifying routes, terrain, points of interest and calculating distances to suit your walkers.
5. Promoting- raising awareness in creative ways to extend your reach (also see Section 3 Promoting a GM Daily Mile & Engaging others)
6. Goal Setting & Challenges- motivating walkers through goal setting and challenges (team/individual)
7. Sustaining– helping walkers maintain their new walking habits (also see Section 4 Staying Motivated)

There are many free Apps and websites to help you  Working Out a Mile  or help you to Planning a Walking Route  if you are looking for support or inspiration. These downloads include the direct links you will need.  The Go Jauntly app has some walks specific to Greater Manchester- check it out here.

If necessary refer to your organisation’s Health & Safety Policy

2. Sharing the Health & Wellbeing Benefits of Walking

One way to encourage walking is to share the positive outcomes of walking a GM Daily Mile. Remember it only takes about 20 minutes to walk a mile or is about 2,000 steps, walking supports physical, emotional & mental wellbeing too.

Walking supports each of the Five Ways to Wellbeing, developed by the New Economics Foundation (2008) and used by many local, regional and nationals community & health organisations across the UK.

The five evidenced-based actions are designed to improve personal wellbeing, these are;

• Connect- building connections with others can support and enrich you every day.
• Keep Learning- learning something or visiting somewhere new can increase your confidence and your self-esteem. 
• Be Active- moving  helps to release feel good hormones which support your overall wellbeing.
• Give-giving time or words to others is proven to support wellbeing.  
• Take Notice- enjoying the moment, being aware of the here and now and noticing the world around you can help you appreciate what matters. 

Let’s see how walking can can support each of these.

How a GM Daily Mile supports The Five Ways to Wellbeing

3. Promoting a GM Daily Mile & Engaging Others

The best ways to promote a GM Daily Mile Walk will vary from group to group. A combination of promotional methods works well, we have developed some tools to help you.

Getting the messaging right

• Make sure the message resonates with the target audience. i.e. ‘Walk more drive less’ ‘It’s only 20 minutes’ ‘2000 steps- that’s it!’
• Create a message that speaks to the needs and interests of the target group.
• Messaging should be focused on the target group and how a GM Daily Mile will benefit them. If a cup of tea/coffee is important at the end of a walk- use that message. If consultation shows people want to meet and mix with others, share that message. For example ‘Walk. Chat. Drink tea’  or ‘Let’s walk & talk’
• Remember, less is more when it comes to messaging.
• You have approximately three seconds to capture an audience’s attention, keep messages interesting and snappy.
• Create a name for the walking group such as; The GM Daily Milers or The It only takes 20 Club. Be imaginative or include this in the initial consultation to generate ideas from the target group.
• Using hashtags# can work really well, For example #walk #cuppa or #walkandchat #GMDailyMile but always be mindful or your target group, not everyone knows what a # is!

Choosing the sweet spots to reach your target group. 

• Customise the poster and flyer templates to display in shops, doctors or local venues-using a variety of places will increase your reach. (There is space for your logo to be added to these downloads too if you wish.)
• Distribute the flyers where they will be seen & picked up.
• Use the downloadable noticeboard headers  and Hashtags downloads to create an eye catching GM Daily Mile zone on your community noticeboards.
• Use the At a Glance Poster and Five Ways to Wellbeing Poster to share the ‘Why Walk?’ messages.
• Write a press release to local newspapers or share on local radio.
• Share plans via Facebook, Twitter or group WhatsApp where appropriate.
• Leave voice messages to targeted members.
• Decide how you will launch the walking group/opportunity.

4. Staying Motivated

The GM Walking  Staying Motivated Guide will help to motivate walkers and provides tips & ideas about the following;

• Finding inspiration & setting bite sized goals
• Rewarding progress
• Making it fun & mixing it up a bit
• Walking with others
• Tracking progress is a great motivator.  Choose what you want to track and print a GM Daily Mile Minute Tracker or a  GM Daily Mile Step Trackers (up to 10,000 steps and up to 20,000 steps)  to record progress on. Display at  work or at home as an additional motivator.
• A GM Daily Mile Walk Diary  is a great way to monitor progress made and provides a space to record how walking makes us feel too.

5. Learning Through Walking

Walking provides a great opportunity to learn, see new things, visit new places and explore.

• Walking even a mile can open our eyes to new places, new experiences and new people.
• The same walk in  the opposite direction can look and feel very different.
• Guided walks can be used to visit particular points of interest. Even familiar places can be seen differently when explored by foot so don’t discount local walks from your planning.
• Walks can be themed, with routes specially chosen for their location, such as urban, parks, fields, and town.
• Walkers can learn from each other with increased social interaction opportunities.
• Walking can also help us to learn about ourselves, our bodies and our minds.
• If walking with others who might enjoy some activities along the way, try the GM Daily Mile activity sheets to help to explore and learn from the environment. There are activities for all ages, stages and abilities, big groups, small groups, families & individuals.

Download these engaging activity sheets:

• GM Daily Mile ‘I can see it’ Bingo (Simple things to spot along the way)
• GM Daily Mile Nature Bingo (12 nature based sights and objects to find on your walk)
• GM Daily Mile ‘I Spy’, ‘Shape Detectives’ and ‘Colour Detectives’
• GM Daily Mile Walking Sensory Search (Using your senses to discover new things)
• GM Daily Mile Walking Scavenger Hunt (Natural objects to gather along the way)
• GM Daily Mile Wildlife and Nature apps ( Downloadable apps to help identify trees, birds and more on your walk)
• GM Daily Mile blank activity sheet (To create your own bingo, sensory search or scavenger hunt activities)

6. Celebrating Progress & Success

Remember to celebrate progress and success. Celebrating winners of challenges can be great but also consider celebrating progress too, such as consistency of walkers, new walkers or those who recruit new walkers. But only if they want the recognition!

• Encourage walkers to reward themselves and each other with something positive & healthy when they reach their goals.
• Take time out to phone a friend for a chat, buy a magazine to read, sit outdoors and enjoy the sounds. Small gifts of time to themselves and others can be very fulfilling.
• Have a ‘Walker of the Week/Month’
• Provide a GM Daily Mile Certificate to group members or if promoting a GM Daily Mile share the link for them to download their own. 

Be proud, celebrate and continue your good work.

#GMDailyMile