Staff at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have been participating in a national campaign which encourages people to increase the amount that they walk throughout May and beyond.
National Walking Month takes place throughout May each year and is an opportunity to get active through increasing how much you walk throughout the month.
Staff at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals are getting involved in an organisation-wide walking challenge to celebrate this month.
Teams of 2-6 people have signed up to see how many steps they can do collectively from Monday 13th May until Sunday 19th May. Winners keep hold of the walking challenge trophy for a year.
There are numerous benefits to walking.
Walking is good for the heart, can help you to lose weight, can lower your risk of dementia, and gives you energy.
Being outside in the sun also increases your levels of vitamin D and can generally make you happier.
Participating in the walking challenge is also beneficial due to the social aspect of being in a team and being in a competition that can motivate you to do those few extra steps.
Adele Walsh, Health and Wellbeing Project Administrator at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, said: “The May Walking Challenge proved hugely popular last year across our hospitals so we wanted to bring it back to encourage people to increase how much they are walking throughout May and beyond the challenge. This is a great way to get active and socialise and walking is just so good for you in general. Some of our staff can be on their feet all day but others are office-based, and you can find yourself sitting down for hours so it is really important for both body and mind to get up, take a break and get active.”