Members of the deaf community are being encouraged to take part in a new health walk which takes place every fortnight at Wolverhampton's West Park.

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They are part of the popular Walking for Health programme. Walkers meet outside West Park Café at 12pm to join a 1 lap walk of the park led by British Sign Language (BSL) Walking for Health volunteers and members of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust's Healthy Lifestyles Department.

The group - the first BSL led Walking for Health group in the UK - has been meeting fortnightly since 9 September, with around 20 participants every other week, and enjoying refreshments in the café afterwards.

The next walk will be this Wednesday, 21 October, 2015, and the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Public Health Councillor Sandra Samuels said: "This is a fantastic initiative and I am delighted that Wolverhampton is leading the way by holding the first Walking for Health walk in the country specifically designed for people with hearing difficulties.

"Walking is an excellent way to maintain health and fitness levels, and it's important that we do all we can to enable as many people as possible to take part in regular exercise programmes such as this."

The Walking for Health programme aims to get people more active through short, recreational health walks and by trying to remove barriers preventing people from walking.

It offers more than 40 different walks at locations around Wolverhampton. They are free to take part in and open to all.

For more information about the Walking for Health scheme, please call 08000 734242 or 01902 444246 or text 07717498639. Alternatively, e-mail rwh-tr.walkingforhealth@nhs.net

  • released: Friday 16 October, 2015