• Bentley Day Service gets walking

     

    Location: South Yorkshire  
     

    When project coordinator Jim Shaw started working with Bentley Day Service in Doncaster, he encouraged clients, who took very little exercise, to get outdoors and get to know their community better.

     
    Bentley Day Service team leader Nicola Naylor works with adults with a range of mental and physical disabilities from across Doncaster. Exercise for the group tended to be confined to short indoor sports sessions. Nicola saw the project as a chance to get them outdoors, walking in a safe and organised way.
     
    Jim and Nicola organised a series of fortnightly led walks to the park, starting from the church hall, following slightly different routes each time to the pavilion in the local park. The group gained confidence from walking on familiar streets and had the assurance of walking very similar distances each time. Jim says: “The clients took very little exercise throughout the week and for some, this was the only time they spent outdoors and they really appreciated being out in the fresh air.”
     
    Many of the clients would be ready well before the set-off time and were keen to show Jim their walking boots and coats. Jim says that although most of the clients were not able to articulate their feelings personally to him, “there was always an air of excitement in the hall as I arrived for each of the walks.”
     
    In addition to getting the group walking, they also got to meet members of their community. Many passers-by and pedestrians would wave, say hello or good morning as they passed, and the staff in the Pavilion tea room would always make time to sit and talk to some of the clients when they stopped for tea.
     
    The staff and carers also really appreciated the time Jim invested in their group. It was an equally refreshing opportunity for them to be outdoors and to interact with their clients in a much more relaxed environment. As a consequence, the group were awarded the Fitter for Walking ‘Standard’, recognising progress towards a healthier lifestyle.
     
    Result: The staff have pledged to carry out similar walking plans with their future client groups at other day services in which they will be working, enabling more people to walk.


     





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