Walks 4 Wellbeing

09/06/2026

We had 3 walks yesterday, the first of which was the Women's Walk. The weather forecast was for rain but we decided to walk anyway around the Erewash canal, Bennerley Viaduct: The Iron Giant and Nottingham canal loop that Kira had mapped out for us. It remained dry except for a few spots of rain along the canal where the trees protected us. It was warmer than expected and we enjoyed seeing a family of Swans with 6 cygnets. We observed the grey clouds over the Viaduct and valley below.

We were delighted to spot a Bee Orchid and stopped to admire it. A friendly squirrel walked along the fence next to us for about 100 yards, much to our amusement. We had some good conversations about mental health, carers week and the Future Cotmanhay project.

Here are some photo's of a few of our walkers. Thanks to Ange for her additional images.

Our next Women’s Walk will be on 6th July at 9.30am. We meet at Cotmanhay Children’s Centre.



Derbyshire Recovery and Peer Support Service Walk Derbyshire Derbyshire Mental Health Team Derbyshire Carers Association

08/06/2026

Derventio, who are one of our partners, have a Growing Lives
open day on 15th July: 📢Open Day – Revised Date! 📢

Come and join us at our Open Day on the new date of 15th July, from 11:00am to 3:00pm.

Growing Lives
1 Grenville Drive
Ilkeston
DE7 8HT

We look forward to welcoming you and sharing with you what Growing Lives is all about. 😊

📢Open Day – Revised Date! 📢

Come and join us at our Open Day on the new date of 15th July, from 11:00am to 3:00pm.

Growing Lives
1 Grenville Drive
Ilkeston
DE7 8HT

We look forward to welcoming you and sharing with you what Growing Lives is all about. 😊

05/06/2026

We were absolutely delighted to get a shout out on Radio Derby this morning by Claire Goring of Linking Hope during Volunteer Week. Many thanks to all of our volunteer Walk Leaders, we really appreciate all of the time you give to help run our walks and events. We couldn't do this without you!

Huge thanks to the Walks 4 Wellbeing walk leaders & past leaders: Raoul, Alex, Susie, Sharon, Keir, Richard, Shak & Allan;

Accessible Walk & Talk Walk Leaders & past leaders: Raoul, Susie, Del, Cheryl, Jill, Keir, Liz, Hugo, Ali & Jerry;

Maggie's Meet Ups Walk Leaders: Maggie, Aija, Helen & Susie;

Women's Walk Leaders & past leaders: Leanne, Becci, Louise, Susie, Aija, Kira, Ange & Dee;

Move More Cotmanhay and Nordic Walking Instructors: Corinna & Susie;

Ilkeston Strollers Walk Leaders: Paul, George, Chris, & their team;

Nutbrook Walking for Health Walk Leaders: Pam, George, Christine, Dorothy, Ruth & the team;

Men Walking and Talking - Long Eaton & Beeston Walk Leaders: Mike, Andy & Chris & their team;

Parish Walk Leaders: Brian, Mike, Pat and Val;

Friends of Bennerley Viaduct Walk Leaders: Hadley, Angie, Glenda, Dave & their extensive team of wonderful volunteers;

Walk Leaders Rachel & Viv,

Walking groups at Mindscapes, Amber Valley Ambles, Derbyshire Carers Association & emh homes;

and anyone else I have unintentionally missed out from this rather long list! I'm incredibly grateful to all of you for helping us to to provide so many walks around the area, especially during Erewash Walking Month. I look forward to running more walks & litter picks with you in the future.

Thank you to everyone who supports us and our volunteers including
Derbyshire Recovery and Peer Support Service Walk Derbyshire Walk Wheel Cycle Trust Our Crafty Place Derbyshire Mental Health Team
Bennerley Viaduct: The Iron Giant Erewash Borough Council Active Erewash Erewash Time Swap Erewash Sound Ilkeston News Ilkeston Police SNT Ilkeston Life

05/06/2026

It is Volunteer Week this week and we were delighted to be able to collaborate with emh homes on a litter pick today in Kirk Hallam as part of the Kirk Hallam Connect project. Thank you to our regular walkers and the new people we enjoyed meeting earlier:

🌱 12 Bags Of Litter Later 🌱

What can we say other than...

A HUGE thank you to our amazing Kirk Hallam residents who rolled up their sleeves and worked so hard today, your pride in the community really shone through!

We also want to give a special shout‑out to the local non‑residents who joined us. Your support means so much and shows what can happen when communities come together.

A massive thank you to Susie from Walks 4 Wellbeing for bringing such positive energy, and of course to Bailey the dog 🐾, who kept spirits high and tails wagging!

We’re incredibly grateful to Captain Kirk’s Fish & Chips for welcoming us at lunchtime ...and for serving up THE BEST chips (honestly, unbeatable!).

Thank you as well to Erewash Borough Council for facilitating the equipment and helping make the day possible.

This is just the beginning, and if today is anything to go by, the future of community action in Kirk Hallam is looking very bright.

Thank you and WELL DONE everyone!

Send an email to [email protected] if you want to get involved, or maybe even create a litter pick group near you!

Erewash Borough Council Erewash Voluntary Action Derbyshire Recovery and Peer Support Service Walk Derbyshire Active Erewash

05/06/2026

Our walking festival begins tomorrow!!

The first walk is now sold out, but there are still plenty of walks to book on and enjoy over the 17 day event as part of the Belper 250 celebrations. One of these is '250 years of Belper Waterpower' by expert guide Dr Ian Jackson taking place on Saturday 6th June at 2pm. This fascinating walk around the waterways of the Belper Mill complex tells about Belper's industrial mill owners and renewable energy generators who, for 250 years, have continually improved the harnessing of the power of the Derwent. The perfect walk to complement the Belper Goes Green festival this weekend!

You can book online for all our walks and tours via our website www.belpernorthmill.org.uk/calendar

02/06/2026

We like to look at the trees while we are out walking. Can you identify these trees?

01/06/2026

We had a warm afternoon for our Nordic Walk today. We were lucky enough to find a wild rabbit on our route, who felt safe enough to continue eating whilst we watched and marvelled at how close we were. It was a wonderful sight.

Some of our nordic walkers are pictured below. We are delighted to discover how much fitter we are after almost a year of weekly walks. Some of us have lost weight, some of us have toned up but all of us are nordic walking more quickly than we were at the start. It's great to see especially as some of us have chronic health conditions. Invisible illnesses haven't stopped us from exercising, socialising and getting out in nature to improve our mental and physical health.

We have a waitlist for our Nordic Walks 4 Wellbeing. Please contact us if you are interested in learning how to Nordic Walk.