Thousands of Tewkesbury residents embrace healthier living thanks to Travel Advisor Scheme
Thousands of selected Tewkesbury borough households have embraced a healthier lifestyle following visits from the Count Me In! team of travel advisors.
Between May 24th and August 27th 2010, 6,072 households were visited by the advisors, of which 2,315 households received information and guidance on how to become more healthy, including access to active travel and local community activities such as exercise and dance events.
In addition, 1,313 personal challenges were set, encouraging householders to be more active through leisure walks and cycle rides.
Sarah Williams from Count Me In!, said: “We are delighted to see such a positive response to the programme and that residents are enjoying walking and cycling more in Tewkesbury. The purpose of this project and the Count Me In! programme as a whole is to bring about positive changes in people's lifestyles, and it's wonderful to see that so many people now on course to living healthier lives.”
A project evaluation survey found that 47% of the respondents had increased their walking as a result of the Travel Advisor Scheme; 22% had increased their levels of cycling and 15% reported an increase in bus use. The most encouraging project outcome was that 24% of all the respondents reported using the car less as a result of the scheme.
Wheatpieces resident, Anne-Marie Smith, said "The Count Me In! Travel Advisor Scheme was brilliant - a good motivator. I've never done anything like this before, and it's great for the kids. If they see their parents doing it, then they want to do it as well."
The Travel Advisor scheme was part of the Count Me In! programme – a Government-funded initiative to encourage Tewkesbury Borough residents to live more active lives.
Steve Dawes, 71, from Northway, said: "The information pack we received was concise, and we gleaned some very good information from it. We very much enjoyed our challenge, and once my wife is retired we can start pursuing the local gyms."