Our Community walk was a concept designed to help prevent social isolation during the pandemic, at a time when an increased percentage of our local community are suffering from bereavement. Restrictions resulted in individuals experiencing greater difficulty interacting with others and a lack of opportunities to build new relationships. Our community walk aims to develop:
- Small communities that are able to support each other.
- Socially distanced activity/walk which takes place outside.
- Interaction with others suffering from bereavement and develop friendships.
- New opportunity for individuals living in different areas of our community to engage where previously not possible.
- Training and support for individual members of the community to independently run their own bereavement peer support groups.
- Expand capacity of community walk groups and, through advertising, help individuals over a more expansive area of Weston-super-Mare and its’ surrounding villages.
Through the development of this community support group, individuals are given the opportunity to exercise in a sustainable and healthy way. Benefits include:
- Reduced stress, anxiety and fatigue.
- Improved self-esteem, mood and sleep quality.
- Good for mental well-being.
- Meeting new people and making friends, who can help each other deal with similar shared experiences.
- 30% reduced risk of becoming depressed and helps those depressed to recover.
- Physically feel fitter and in control of weight and body image leading to increased confidence.
- Reduced risk of cognitive decline and dementia.
- Improved cognitive function, memory attention and processing speed in older people.