National Walking Month in May: #WalkOut
May is National Walking Month – a national campaign to encourage people from all ages and backgrounds to get moving and embrace the benefits of walking! The campaign takes places each year in May and was started to combat the increasing sedentary lifestyle seen in modern societies and to promote sustainable transport.
This month-long event is the perfect opportunity to spend time in nature, improve fitness, and connect with others in a healthy, enjoyable way. It is also a great way to have a break away from sitting at our screens which we use for such a significant part of our day. We spend more time sitting than we realise – at work, whilst commuting, eating lunch, watching TV etc. On average, adults sit for 8-10 hours per day!
1 in 4 people in South Yorkshire do less than 30 minutes of physical activity per week, and this number is higher for women, those from Black backgrounds and lower income groups (research from South Yorkshire Combined Mayoral Combined Authority, 2024).
The theme for this year’s campaign is highlighting the benefits of walking for women. We’re asking women to #WalkOut and get outside for a walk or wheel each day in May for their own health, wellbeing and enjoyment. The call for women to ‘walk out’ for National Walking Month is in recognition of women being more likely to make multi-purpose journeys, such as combining school drop-offs, care responsibilities and errands within a single trip. The campaign wants women to go for a walk for themselves – and their own enjoyment.
Find out more about National Walking Month on the Living Streets website, including their pledge which you can sign up for to do a #WalkOut on Friday 29th May 2026.
During our campaign for SYWIN, we will be promoting the benefits of building walking, or wheeling for those unable to walk, into your day and encouraging you to take on a “Walk or Wheel” challenge. Even a short, brisk 10-minute daily walk has lots of health benefits and counts towards your 150 minutes of weekly exercise, as recommended in the NHS physical activity guidelines for adults aged 19 to 64.
Before we do, let’s share some facts around why walking and wheeling can be so beneficial for health and wellbeing and can also help us in the workplace:
- Research shows that walking can reduce a woman’s chance of getting breast cancer, strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor, and help women recover after having a baby or experiencing a long illness.
- Research published earlier this year found that just five minutes more exercise and 30 minutes less sitting could help millions of people live longer, highlighting the benefits of tiny lifestyle changes. The greatest benefit was seen if the least active 20% of the population increased their activity by five minutes each day.
- Walking for 30 minutes on most days reduces mortality risk by at least 10%.
- Research also shows that physical activity can boost self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy.
- Individuals who walk more than 7000 steps a day have a 30% lower chance of being diagnosed with depression. Walking in nature has even more of a preventative impact on mental health alleviating symptoms of depression and anxiety.
- Walking can boost creative thinking. Studies show that walking and or wheeling increases creative output by approximately 60%.
- Walking is an excellent way to reduce stress. Employees who walk or wheel during the working day have reported feeling more relaxed and less stressed and experience more enthusiasm in the afternoon!
- Studies have shown walking or wheeling regularly results in improvements in cognitive function and working memory.
(Research from Harvard Health, University of Stanford, Psychological Science, Cambridge University, Nature, The Lancet and World Health Organisation)
Different types of walking:
There are various types of walking you can try to maximise the cardio, fat burn and muscle strengthening benefits including power walking, Nordic walking, hiking, treadmill walking and Japanese interval walking. Find out more here.
Are you up for our “Walk or Wheel” Challenge?
We’d like to invite you to join in our “Walk or Wheel” challenge. We’re setting a “Walk or Whee” challenge for every week throughout the month of May and are encouraging you to join in with your teams on as many of the days of that week as you can!
There are 1440 minutes in a day, why not try and schedule 30 minutes every day for physical activity?
At the end of the month, we would encourage you to self-reflect and think about which challenge you preferred and can take forward as a new habit in your working week (or perhaps it might be a combination of the challenges!):
Click here to view the challenge reflection log to help you reflect on the challenges each week!
- Week 1 (5th-8th May): Walking or wheeling meetings: commit to walking or wheeling and talking in as many meetings as you can for one week – this could be outside or perhaps walking on the spot at your desk if you are on a video call (can you change your virtual background to let everyone know you are walking whilst talking?)
- Week 2 (11th-15th May): Walk or wheel at lunch every day for a week: Commit to a 30-minute walk or wheel every lunchtime for a week. Why not team up with colleagues for a group wellbeing walk?
- Week 3 (18th-22nd May): Step or wheel challenge: complete at least 7000 steps or 3000-5000 wheelchair pushes a day!
- Week 4 (25th-30th May): Commit to a 1 hour walk or wheel in nature perhaps somewhere you haven’t walked or wheeled before. This can be before, during or after work or at the weekend.
