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Slow Ways

Slow Ways

Slow Ways is an initiative to create a national network of walking routes

Location
United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Unlimited positions available
Suitable for individuals and teams
Wheelchair accessible

What you will be doing

Up for helping? Choose, Walk, Review

You can get involved by simply walking a Slow Ways route.

By using this Slow Ways website, and leaving a review, you’re helping create a new national network of walking routes.

To help, sign-up, then: 

1. Choose a Slow Ways route

2. Walk it

3. Review it

You’ll find detailed guidance on how to do these things on the ‘How to…’ page.

What we are looking for

Anyone can contribute to Slow Ways

What difference this will make

Benefits of Slow Ways

A large number of potential benefits have been identified by volunteers, partners and backers in developing the Slow Ways initiative.

These include, but are not limited to:

Community benefits

  • sharing a positive, empowering, rewarding and inclusive project at a time of national crisis and recovery
  • offering a source of community‌ engagement, focus, ‌identity‌ ‌and‌ ‌pride‌
  • boosting the equity of use of path networks
  • increasing the use of currently under-used paths – thereby keeping them open and valued

Health benefits

  • ‌improving ‌health‌ ‌and‌ ‌wellbeing‌ ‌by‌ ‌encouraging‌ ‌physical‌ ‌activity‌ ‌for‌ ‌short‌ ‌trips‌ and ‌longer journeys 
  • helping to mitigate the causes and effects of Covid-19, being part of recovery plans, and offering public transport alternatives 
  • creating opportunities for people to connect with friends, family and colleagues

Environmental benefits

  • reducing ‌pollution and ‌emissions‌ through active travel options as an alternative to carbon-based transport
  • contributing to the decarbonisation of local and national transport systems and helping to address the climate emergency
  • connecting people to ‘nearby nature’, heritage, places and communities

Transport benefits

  • encouraging modal shift – supporting more people to walk more of the time, for more purposes
  • providing ‌safe, ‌direct‌ ‌and‌ ‌enjoyable‌ ‌routes‌ ‌between neighbouring‌ ‌towns‌ ‌and‌ ‌cities ‌
  • linking active travel to public transport hubs
  • promoting greater use of existing paths, trails, networks, and the connections between them

‌Economic benefits

  • saving people money by encouraging ‌an‌ ‌inexpensive‌ ‌form of travel
  • spreading economic activity by inspiring visits to, and stays in, more places

What to bring

Walk, or wheel, your chosen Slow Ways route

Enjoy walking, running or wheeling your route.

Remember, you’re responsible for your own decisions, actions and safety.

Getting there

The current challenge is to walk, review and verify them all – checking 120,000km of Slow Ways in the process. 

Slow Ways aims to inspire and support more people to walk more often, further and for more purposes.

While there are thousands of miles of paths linking places across Great Britain, there isn’t a comprehensive and trusted network designed to help people walk off-road between towns and cities. That’s what the Slow Ways initiative, with its distinctive geometric connections, is creating.

Facilities

The vast majority of Slow Ways routes start and finish in populated places, with varied transport links, food and accommodation options. This makes it easier and more affordable to plan short, medium and long-distance journeys.

Accessibility

As people walk and wheel, review, rate, survey and create new routes this is evolving into a network of ‘verified’ routes, ones that can be used with confidence. Over time, this will help people with specific needs and desires easily find routes that meet their requirements.

Slow Ways is a positive and timely initiative. Walking can improve health and wellbeing, help tackle climate and ecological emergencies, save people money, improve our environment, create memories and bring joy to people’s lives.


Health and Wellbeing Environment/ Nature/Biodiversity

Ready to make a difference

You need to be an Aviva Employee to register for this opportunity.

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