As a walking group volunteer, you could support older people across South Gloucestershire enjoy the benefits of regular walking and being outdoors.

Older people can experience barriers that prevent them from engaging in local activities and hinder them from keeping active; this may be because of a significant life event like a bereavement, or periods of ill health, which result in a lack of confidence. You could help older people reintroduce activity into their daily lives and boost their confidence by becoming a walking group volunteer with Age UK South Gloucestershire.

Volunteers attend a weekly group walk in the community and support this walk through providing encouragement and companionship to the older people participating. We have a group in Thornbury, with plans to introduce groups in Kingswood, Downend and Filton.

Volunteers are expected to commit to attending and supporting one walk per week which will be approximately an hour long. Part of the aim of this project is to help reduce loneliness and social isolation, therefore after the walk the participants will be taken to a café for a tea or coffee. The walking project staff team would strongly encourage volunteers to join us for this as well, as it is a great opportunity to build bonds with the clients. This will last for approximately half an hour.

The majority of walks will be taking place during the day, between Monday to Friday, with the possibility of some evening walks as we move into the summer months.

All volunteers will need to attend relevant training sessions, provide references and undertake a DBS check appropriate to the role. Training for the role is delivered by the Age UK South Gloucestershire team, either online or in person. Training courses take place at a variety of locations across South Gloucestershire and occur in the evening as well as during the day.