Step Count Challenge Blog

Margaret Ritchie wrote a little summary about their challenge. Here it is:

The NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde West Glasgow Child and Adolescent Mental Health Team organised three teams for the Step Count challenge and set off to walk from Los Angeles to New York. It's been a great success and who knew just how competitive it could get!

We had a competition for the best team each week and also for the individual who had walked the most in any one day. The team with the least steps supplied biscuits for the team meeting each week. We managed to reach New York within five weeks and booked ourselves on first class flights to the toe of Italy. We've been walking back to Glasgow through some beautiful scenery since then.

We've loved the challenge and changed a few habits. The lift is rarely used now.

Scottish Slimmers have offered free membership and a free copy of their Boost magazine to anyone who has taken part in the Walk at Work Step Count Challenge.

To take up this offer, all you have to do is go along to one of the many classes taking place all over Scotland and quote the following password 'Step Count Challenge'. Simple as that. You can find out the location of your nearest group by visiting the Scottish Slimmers website and entering your town or city in the search box.

If the challenge has given you some inspiration to lose a bit of weight then joining a local slimming group might be just the thing for you. For a weekly fee, the groups are led by trained and experienced class managers who provide talks, information and support to help you get motivated.

You might also like to know, Scottish Slimmers provide classes direct to your workplace through their Scottish Slimmers Works programme. Class Managers will come to your office and lead classes with staff over six week blocks. To find out more about Scottish Slimmers Works check out their leaflet and website.

Here's a nice little summary of The Fast and the Furious' virtual walk around the Eastern Med sent in by Claire Saunderson from Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Physios.

"I was getting married to Peter on the 24th March so our team of 5 (Frances, Isobel, Jenny, Julie and Claire) decided to walk the route of my honeymoon cruise as our team challenge. A total distance of 1,032 miles. The route was as follows:

Leg one: Limassol in Cyprus to Alanya in Turkey, 142 miles.

Leg two: Alanya to Alexandria in Egypt, 388 miles.

Leg three: Alexandria to Port Said in Egypt, 141 miles.  

Leg Four: Port Said to Ashdod in Israel, 143 miles.

Leg Five: Ashdod to Limassol, 218 miles.

If we reached our destination early, we also had a return route to Glasgow as an extra challenge to see how far we could get. This added an extra 2,282 miles to our journey.

In week 1 we walked 206 miles, which means we walked from Limassol in Cyprus to Alanya in Turkey (142miles) for some fabulous sun, sea and shopping. And we had some leftover energy to take us well on our way towards Alexandria in Egypt.

In week 2 we walked 193 miles. That took us to within 132 miles of the coast of Egypt. As this was our longest voyage on the cruise and incorporated our day at sea it meant we got to enjoy a few cocktails on the ship.

In week 3 we walked 198 miles which took us into Alexandria and the site of the old Pharaoh's Lighthouse (one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World), and began our journey to Port Said from where we would get the bus to see the Pyramids.

In week 4 we excelled ourselves and walked 234 miles. This not only got us to Port Said but we had miles to spare.  So, after a fabulous day exploring Memphis and the Pyramids, we began our walk to Ashdod in Israel, covering 27 miles of the route.

In week 5 we continued our run of form and walked 220 miles. This covered the rest of the route to Ashdod in Israel where we visited Masada, floated in the Dead Sea and walked around Jerusalem and Bethlehem, upping the step count further. It even took us 103 miles of our return journey to Limassol.

In week 6 we did it!!! We walked a total of 208 miles. This included the 115 miles needed to reach Limassol and complete our challenge. Then after a cool beer in the sunshine we decided to keep walking back towards Glasgow and managed 93 miles, taking us into the Mediterranean sea.

Wearing my pedometer on my wedding day was worth it!

In week 7 we continued our walk home with a fabulous 202 miles, walking on water's a great thing ;) This took us across the Med and up to Rhodes. Let's see where our final week takes us!

In the final week, we walked 209 miles taking us from Rhodes to within 60 miles of Athens! And it is here we finish, sunning ourselves on one of the lovely Greek islands. Time for a holiday anyone?

So in 8 weeks we completed our challenge and more, walking 1668 miles in total between us! I think we can be happy with that! Now to enjoy some of that food we collected along the way ;)"

Congratulations to everyone who submitted photos for the photo competition - and congratulations to the winners. From the photos that have been posted it's superb to see the variety of views and landscapes both urban and rural as well as some of the gorgeous detailed shots of nature (plants, animals, rivers, sunsets and the weather!). I love too the ones of people enjoying being outdoors and having fun - the latest ones of the little boy and the snail and the family hiding behind the trees are great. All in all you've really captured what 'simple pleasures, easily found' is all about - enjoying and having fun outdoors - so thanks very much for all taking part.

I hope your challenges are going well and you'll continue to look at and enjoy your experiences with nature - whatever and wherever they are.

We have quite alot of publicity happening at the moment as we're helping to promote Biodiversity Week (19-27 May) when there'll be lots of events happening around Scotland. To see if there's an event near you, or to run your own, however big or small, visit the Biodiversity Week website. 

In addition to that, we're promoting the "Take time out with nature challenge" in and around Glasgow particularly, to encourage everyone to get into the outdoors at least once a week - for a whole year. Look out for advertising in key outdoor places, on the underground, in the Evening Times, Daily Record and on facebook (search for 'Nature on your doorstep'). The Evening Times are featuring a supplement on Thursday 3rd May all about enjoying nature in Glasgow as well as a free take time out with nature challenge wall planner towards the end of the month.

If you'd like your own take time out with nature challenge bag dangle book or other resources you can visit our website to see what's available, contact us at natureonyourdoorstep@snh.gov.uk or call the publications section on 01738 458530.

The pictures above were taken by Hannah Morrison on a walk round Lochmaddy on North Uist.

Here's the last round of your Simple Pleasures photos. We've tried to share as many as possible and hope you've enjoyed seeing the huge variety of images taken all over the country and in all weathers! We loved sifting through them so a big thanks for taking the time to send your photos in. The winners of the prize draw are announced at the bottom of this post, so scroll down and see if you've got lucky!

This haunting picture of Dunottar Castle was sent by Lynn Shepherd.

This stream in Binscarth Woods near Finstown, Orkney was captured by Neil McCartney using his mobile phone.

Adrian Tuckwell from Aker Solutions sent this brilliant photo of a snail under close scrutiny!

Joanna Chmielewski from the University of Edinburgh photographed these charming spring flowers on her walk to work.

Gillian Richardson photographed this little lamb, we couldn't resist posting it!

This bridge was shot by Lynne Brown, the vivid colours really bring the image to life.

Raymond Stark from the Castlemilk Bootcampers took this grainy photo of the River Clyde.

First Group's Amanda Macleod sent in this picture of some family fun during a walk round Pollok Park in Glasgow.

 Irene Allan's blossom photo really captures the essence of springtime.

 Carol Burt from Renfrewshire Council took this photo of her daughter at the summit of Ben Lomond.

And the winners are:

A Sony Cybershot digital camera will go to: Eddie Murphy (Aker Solutions), Linda Sutherland (Shirlie Project), Bill McNiece (James Watt College), Chrisell MacLeod (Sgoil a'Bhac), Heather Blackwood (Roemex)

A Tiso voucher worth £25 will go to: Neville Henderson (Royal Bank of Scotland), Margaret McCrossan (East Renfrewshire council), Ann Connelly (West Lothian College), Linda Connachan (NHS Lothian), Ted Simpson (Renfrewshire Council), Sarah Guy (Strathclyde Police), Julia Duggan (NTP Kitchens and Joinery LTD), Fiona Kimber (Eildon), Claire Paterson (Flowerpots Childcare), Charlotte Morison (Markon LTD)

A Schuh voucher worth £25 will go to: Claire Saunderson (NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde), Sheila Innes (Aberdeen College), Veronica McCune (Cornerstone), Duncan Gordon (Apex Scotland), Claire Matheson (The Keil Centre)

A Buff will go to: Carol Campbell (HM Coastguard), Aileen Jardine (HSE), Alice McGillivray (Inverclyde Council), George Smith (Reid Kerr College), Laura Gray (Glasgow City Council), Neil McCartney (Scottish Government), Adrian Tuckwell (Aker Solutions), Joanna Chmielewski (University of Edinburgh), Yvonne Watson (NHS Grampian), Ozer Akin (NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde), Laura Fraser (HMRC), Alena Turner (Renfrewshire Council), Tricia Carton (Glasgow City Council), Stephen Reilly (Job Centre Plus), Keith Sharples (Cornerstone), Helen Penman (Fife Council), Julie Wilken (Denholm MacNamee), Ronnie McRobert (Strathclyde Police), Alison Pendlowski (NHS Tayside), Linda McDonald  (Aberdeenshire Council)

The winners will also receive a Simple Pleasures coolbag, bag dangle information booklet and a magnifying glass.

Here's a bit of a guest post from Heather MacLeod at Walk Glasgow on the Walkit.com website.

For those of you living or visiting Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen or Perth, the Walkit.com website is well worth a look.  This online walking route planner is a handy, quick tool to help you get from A to B.

It's simple to use – just type in your start and end points and it will generate the most direct walking route with a map and directions along with how long it will take depending on your pace. It was also tell you your calories burned and your carbon saving.

You can generate circular routes from your doorstep or office up to 4 hours long as well as plotting your own routes. A downloadable app for your iPhone is also available with an Android version coming soon.

I work in Glasgow city centre and walk or use public transport to get to meetings. If I don't know exactly where I am going I can just pop in the postcodes and Walkit provides me with the quickest way to get there on foot.  One of my roles is to co-ordinate and support the community health walks so I also use Walkit all the time to plot our health walk routes for the risk assessments. It's brilliant and a great way to increase your daily step count!

Lots of your virtual walks are taking you to foreign climes and many of you are taking the opportunity to sample some of the local delicacies and treats as a little reward. Here's how Visibilty marked their arrival in Venice.

"A combined effort from Visibility's three teams Ben Nevis, Ben Lomond and Ben More has resulted in us walking a total of 2,829,623 steps or 1,414 miles since week one and so far we have reached Venice.

We have celebrated our arrival with an Italian themed lunch which enabled all of us to take time out from our desks and jointly celebrate our achievements to date. Some of the lovely grub included ciabatta and panini bread, Italian ham/mortadella cold meat, Italian Gran Padano cheese, salad, tomatoes, olives and Sicilian blood orange juice. Mmmmmm!!!!

We plan to have another themed lunch at week six when we anticipate having walked from Venice to Germany." Rosemary Cameron

Posting this has made me hungry, time for lunch...

Here's another fine crop of your Simple Pleasures photos, starting with one that would melt even the coldest of hearts...

Sheila Innes from Aberdeen College ventured out in the rain and snow over the Easter holidays and was thrilled to see a couple of hundred harbour seals at the mouth of the River Ythan, Newburgh, Aberdeenshire including this little pup who quickly wriggled off into the sea.

Sarah Guy was walking on the St Cuthbert's Trail and snapped this little chaffinch.

This atmospheric shot of the Glenfinnan Viaduct was taken by Janette Millar from Glasgow City Council whilst on holiday.

This amazing picture of a monkey puzzle tree covered in snow was sent in by Linda McDonald from Aberdeenshire Council.

Joe Brown from the Scottish Government took this summery picture of the River Avon near Linlithgow.

Donna MacKenzie from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has been taking the family out walking, whether they want to or not! Here they are on a hill overlooking Loch Rannoch.

This view of Ross-shire was taken from Meallfuarvone by Linda Sutherland from the Shirlie Project.

This waterfall was snapped by Ozer Akin from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde on a trip to the North of Scotland.

Mary Holligan sent this photo from her phone of a family walk to Loch Brandy in Glen Clover with the additional element of some fun in the snow.

This photo was taken by Laura Taylor from Aker Solutions. Laura said, "the rope bridge is for red squirrels, it allows them to cross a small river, unfortunately they weren't available for a photo that day!"

There's still time to enter. Email your photos to walkatwork@pathsforall.org.uk no later than 5pm on Tuesday 17 April.

Now, here's an interesting thing. An organisation in the States called Accredited Online Colleges stumbled upon our blog and sent us a link to something they posted recently in connection with National Walk to Work Day in America.

15 Facts You Should Share on National Walk to Work Day does pretty much what it says on the tin, it lists 15 good reasons why we should all be trying to fit a little more walking into our daily routines.

For example, did you know walking can increase brain activity? Or that, per mile, walking is just as effective  at burning calories as jogging (it just takes a bit longer!)?  Or that walking can boost workplace productivity? There's lots of other great nuggets of information in there, just click on the link to visit their blog and read on.

West Lothian College's Team Cakewalk spotted this motivational message on a lunchtime walk. They thought they'd share it with you...