|
First North Shore Walk2Work Day a Success
The first Walk2Work Day, held on the 18 March 2009, was well supported across the North Shore.
Around 250 people registered their support on the North Shore City Council website and entered the Walk2Work Day competition by capturing something special about their walk to work in words or through an image.
The winning entries were from Gemma Thomas, Robyn Moxey and Louise de Varga.
There were lots of fantastic entries and local writer Julia Brannigan who judged the entries said “It was really difficult to choose, much harder than I thought it would be. The standard was incredibly high.”
A common theme coming through from the entries was the huge benefit walking gives people in terms of mental relaxation as well as health and fitness.
Meanwhile, on Walk2Work Day itself, over 120 hungry walkers tucked into coffee, fruit and muffins provided at the Walk2Work breakfast event in Takapuna.
Kelvin Aris, from Living Streets Aotearoa and one of the organisers of the Walk2Work event, said he was amazed at the efforts that some people had gone to.
“Some people have walked to the breakfast for up to 2 hours - from as far away as Beach Haven, Devonport, Birkdale and Browns Bay"
Walk2Work Day is a national initiative coordinated by Living Streets Aotearoa and is all about encouraging people out of their cars and into their walking shoes.
“We want to reward people who are already walking and also encourage others to take part too” says Mr Aris.
The next Walk2Work Day will take place on 10 March 2010.
Walking on the North Shore
Walking is not only important for a healthy lifestyle but walking can also save you money, help protect our environment and get you mentally prepared for your day ahead!
Walking is already a mode of transport that is used by people in North Shore City. On any given day within North Shore City around 3000 people are likely to walk to work, 15,000 students will walk to school, up to 15,000 people will walk in town centres during mid afternoon and over 50,000 may walk for recreational exercise during the day.
The North Shore is a beautiful city and has some lovely spots to walk in, as many of our residents like Marilyn have found out. There are many parks and reserves and coastal walks including the newly labelled Long Bay to Devonport walkway, part of the Te Araroa walkway.
However, given the many benefits of walking and the contribution to environmental sustainability there is significant potential for walking to increase.
To encourage more people to walk more often around the city, the recently prepared Walking Strategy sets out its vision as ‘a city where people choose to walk more for transport, recreation and physical activity, and where walking is accessible, safe, pleasant and convenient’.
The Council is already working with the city’s residents on increasing the number of people who choose to walk.
At schools, the Council has actively supported the establishment of walking school buses (WSBs) since 2001. 30 out of 47 North Shore primary schools now operate WSBs which has resulted in 94 WSB routes involving more than 1200 school children and over 540 volunteers. The schools TravelWise programme also engages schools in improving options for safe and reliable ways of getting to and from school without a car.
At workplaces, Council is promoting travel plans, in which the focus is on promoting travel choices and reducing single occupancy car trips. Organisations are encouraged to take steps to increase workers who walk, cycle, take public transport or carpool to and from work.
10 Reasons to Walk
Walking…
- is the most sustainable form of transport
- promotes healthier skin due to increased circulation
- reduces the numbers of vehicles on the road, helps reduce traffic congestion and air, noise and water pollution.
- helps to reduce heart diseases, obesity and cholesterol levels
- is an excellent therapy and remedy for depression, fatigue and aggression
- helps streets become populated by people not cars, and enhances community cohesion
- spurs intellectual creativity and problem solving
- raises your metabolism so you are burning calories faster, even while you rest
- helps build a healthier economy as foot traffic around retail outlets increases
- is free!
For further information
Phone: 09 486 8600 (24 hours a day/ seven days a week)
Email: actionline@northshorecity.govt.nz |
Walk2work Day