WALK AND MEET THE SPRING - ODSHERRED

CMI PARTNER:

Region Zealand, Denmark, working with partners in the municipality of Odsherred.

WHO WAS MEANT TO DO IT?

People with identified health needs, the elderly and disabled people.

WHAT DID THEY DO?

A demonstration project was arranged to test a method of involving people, unfamiliar with hiking and with poor social network, by organising small trips with volunteers and guides.

HOW DID THEY DO IT?

Invitations were sent to key stakeholders from all the local health organisations.  These included senior board, sport and leisure organisations and others and a nature guide to cooperate in the project.  These stakeholders attended two cooperation and one evaluation meeting.

Engagement with key target groups was by personally contacting people unfamiliar with physical activity and who had difficulty in going outdoors.  Each participating NGO, and staff from the local health promotion sector and from the drop-in-centre for alcohol and drug users, were given a quota to contact their service users personally.

The target group was encouraged to walk three 2-3 km hikes in the nature.  Each walk was led by a guide, accompanied by volunteers as helpers.  The participants were offered transport to the starting point, if required. 

Stakeholders had roles as personal contacts, and followers/helpers and others were drivers.

HOW MANY PARTICIPATED?

43 people from the target group

7 NGO’s  

5 staff members

DID IT WORK?

The municipality conducted the tours as described in the partnership agreement.

Each hike took place with a group of 16-20 people with 5 followers/helpers plus a guide.

Three groups of people each completed three hikes over three weeks.

WAS IT SUCCESSFUL?

• All the people and organisations involved were pleased with the result of this demonstration project.  This led to the NGO’s agreeing to take the initiative to arrange new similar trips with the same target group later in the year.
• It was felt that the method of contacting the target participants personally by people who knew about them was a very precise way of reaching a ‘hard to reach’ target group.
• The stakeholders also found their involvement in the activity meaningful, and they enjoyed being together with members from different organisations and meeting new people.

OTHER POINTS?

The initiative is continuing in the municipality, where the NGO’s have continued to organise walking tours themselves.