National Walk 2 Work Day took place on the 13th of March, and it was a gloriously bright day, perfect for walking. It is not possible to thank you enough for supporting it in social media and in real life. We have seen all your photos with the event's hashtags. We selected four contributions that we specially liked, and Holly, Donna, Fleur and the Napier City Council team will be getting one of our new tee shirts as recognition of their efforts.
We've been through a difficult time as a nation since that day with the attack on Christchurch mosques. And now hearing about the dreadful attacks in Sri Lanka. Here at Living Streets Aotearoa, we hope you and your loved ones are safe, and your local community can help take care of its members. New Zealand definitely needs some time for reflection and recovery, and it is hard to go back to 'business as usual' and start talking about practical things that we were doing before.
However, walking is one of the easiest ways to reduce stress. In fact, Prevention.com website states that a brisk 20- to 30-minute walk can have the same calming effect as a mild tranquilizer.
Right now it feels like we might as well keep walking to work, school and play more often - for our mental and physical health. We encourage you to join us and walk whenever and wherever you can.
At the moment we are focusing on our ongoing work on accessible streets – footpaths for pedestrians. Safe and pleasant footpaths are so important to support walking for all of us to enjoy. If you see overgrown vegetation blocking a footpath, or see a footpath that is used as a parking spot, refer to our website for step-by-step information on how to reclaim the footpath. And let your local council know about it too.
Please, keep walking.