āI want my children to think “I can walk or cycle to get thereāā
Before she discovered Warwick District Council’s Choose How You Move BetterPoints challenge, Carly would “always hop in the car, however long the journey”. “I was using it at least six days a week”, she says.
Carly has bipolar disorder and five herniated discs in her back. She found lockdown very challenging, managing her own health and her three children while confined to her home. When restrictions eased, Choose How You Move offered “a valuable incentive to get out and walk”.
“I like looking at my journey data to see how far Iāve been”, Carly says. “If Iāve done one-and-a-half miles in a day, for instance, Iāll want to do two miles the next day. It provides a healthy competition with myself.
“I enjoy seeing the points build up every week too. Iāve saved up to redeem for some Amazon vouchers. Iām using them to buy gift packs for the charity Barnardoās and the local childrenās centre. It isnāt money that I feel Iāve earned, so gifting it feels like the right thing to do.
“I have bipolar, so I experience down moments. Rather than being stuck at home lost in my own thoughts, it encourages me to get outside and interact with people, which really helps.”
Carly no longer takes her children to school and nursery by car, but walks instead. “I do three journeys a day on foot of about four miles in total”, she says.
“My eldest and I will go for a walk before school. We started off doing one circuit, but now weāre up to two and aiming for three. We enjoy it so much that weāve started talking to the school about setting up a walking group.
She has even started to shop without the car. “My partner and I now walk into town rather than drive for shopping trips. Weāll get the bus back if itās raining and weāve got all the children with us!ā
āAs well as the mental benefits, it has made me physically fitter. Iāve got five herniated discs in my back. The extra walking has helped ease the pain a lot.
“We are a lot less stressed as a family in the mornings, as there is no more worrying about trying to find a parking space to drop the children off for school!
Carly’s new travel behaviour is rubbing off on her children, too. “Theyāre starting to realise you donāt need to rely on a car to travel. When they are older I want them to automatically think āI can walk or cycle to get there.”