Scottish Health Walk Network

Robert’s walking story (Volunteering Hebrides)

“For me, the walks are not merely a one-hour weekly event but experiences which have transformed my life every day.”

Robert, who lives on the Isle of Lewis, told us about the life-changing benefits of going to weekly Health Walks after the pandemic lockdowns meant he wasn’t leaving the house as much. Robert is autistic and suffers from social anxiety. He also struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder and had lost confidence in going out on his own.

“I had not walked down my local road either on my own or with anyone else for over a year and had become completely disconnected from the outside world.”

Volunteering Hebrides created the Embark Community Activities Project to support people to be more physically active, helping them to choose to walk, wheel or cycle for local journeys, improving their health, reducing social isolation, and benefitting the environment. They offer walking groups that Robert joined, and since attending these walks, Robert has found increased confidence, social connections, and a safe and supportive space to be himself.

“The walks had been a form of cognitive therapy! More generally, I notice that I am much chattier and more gregarious with other people after the walks and am buzzing with new anecdotes and knowledge.”

Now that Robert has discovered the mental, social and physical benefits of walking by joining Health Walks and plans to continue walking as much as he can.

“Now me and my pedometer are inseparable, and I aspire to do an average of 10000 steps or more a day. I feel physically fitter than I did before I started doing the walks and my weight has come down.”