Walks and walking groups

Walking can be faster than other methods of travel, with no sitting in traffic or waiting for a bus, and it’s free.

You don’t have to walk the same route that you would normally drive – you’ll probably find quieter side streets and paths more pleasant or you could walk through a local green space or park.

Just 10 minutes brisk walking a day can help keep you healthy.

 

Travel planning

For short journeys, walking is quick and reliable. If you want to know how long it will take to walk somewhere, use the walking journey planner or Walkit.

Programme of organised walks

Walkingtogether is our programme of weekly and monthly walks around Hackney.

This guide outlines the steps that everyone must take when joining our Walkingtogether programme:

See walkers’ guidance (google docs).

We’ll make every effort to accommodate attendees on a first come, first served basis. Once maximum class numbers are reached no more entries will be permitted. We’ll give you priority if you’re a Hackney resident or are registered to a Hackney based GP surgery. The Fit 4 Health slow pace walk and the walks of interest require advance booking. 

Before your Walkingtogether walk

Before taking part in any of our walks, new participants or those whose details have changed should complete a registration form:

Register for Walkingtogether walk

Refer to the drop down tabs for each walk for further information, including our walks of interest.

See Walkingtogether programme leaflet (PDF 601kb).

Train as a Walkingtogether walk leader

Walk leader training is aimed primarily at volunteers who want to lead community walks, and is run where there is an existing Wellbeing Walks Scheme in partnership with the Ramblers.

To help us to encourage, engage and increase physical activity levels amongst our residents, we are seeking volunteers and partners who are friendly, approachable, enthusiastic and reliable.

Training is free of charge; however we do ask that you give a minimum of 2 voluntary hours on completion of the course. This can be as a walk leader or assistant leader of your own community walk or as part of the Council’s existing Walkingtogether scheme. We ask that these hours are delivered in Hackney or in connection with a Hackney scheme.

The walk leader training covers: walk planning and safety, managing and leading a walk, benefits of walking/physical activity and demonstration of a walk.

Training is a mix of online and face to face learning. You will be required to shadow a community walk as well as lead a walk as part of the course.

To be eligible you must be over 16 years old.

Read our terms and conditions (PDF 80kb).

Register your interest to train as a walk leader

Exercise made easy – how walking can improve your health

A regular 10 minute brisk walk can make you feel better in many ways – it can boost your energy, clear your head and lift your mood, and can help people with lower back pain or at risk of high blood pressure. It can also improve your long-term health as it can reduce your risk of serious illnesses like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Brisk walking is simply walking faster than usual, at a pace that gets your heart pumping. Start with a 10 minute brisk walk a day and then see if you can gradually build up to more. Find out more about how brisk walking can keep you healthy and get support to get started.

You can read about three Hackney residents to find out more about the benefits of walking and the ways that walking can help with your health and wellbeing. They all participate in the Walkingtogether programme.

The Ramblers

Walkingtogether is delivered in partnership with the Ramblers. In partnership with Sport England and the National Lottery a promotional video ‘Joy’ has been released. Joy perfectly encapsulates the benefits of walking and why we should all incorporate as much movement into our day as possible.

Walking routes

Active 10 walking tracker app

The Active 10 app tracks your walking and shows you when to increase your pace to benefit your health. The app is designed to quickly and simply help you do more brisk walking in bursts of 10 minutes, known as Active 10s. It tracks all your walking and rewards your progress.

Android devices Apple devices

Explore quiet and interesting local walking routes with Footways

Walking as part of your daily routine is the easiest way to stay healthy and active, so we’ve teamed up with Footways to design some routes which connect Kings Park with a range of other destinations.  The routes are full of history, beauty and intrigue, so there will be plenty of things to see and nature to enjoy along the way.
 
Why not walk to the shops at Westfield or Central and get the bus back?  Very often a walk doesn’t take much longer than a ride on the bus and you haven’t spent time waiting at the bus stop!  These routes avoid the busy streets and follow quiet routes through Hackney.
 
The routes are available on the Go Jauntly app:
  • search “Go Jauntly”, or visit the Android or iPhone app store to download the Go Jauntly app
  • you can create an account within the app or skip that stage completely and just choose the walk you want to try
Once you’ve downloaded the app, you can go straight to our first two routes using these links:

If you give permission for the app to track your location you’ll be able to see all walks in London or further afield. We’ll be adding more local routes soon so keep checking the app.

Visit Footways to discover more quiet and interesting walking routes across London.

Page updated on: 19 May 2025

Physical Activity

Address

Leisure, Parks and Green Spaces
Environment & Climate Change Division, Climate, Homes & Economy Directorate
Hackney Council, Springfield House, Springfield Park, Springfield, Hackney
E5 9EF

Telephone

Email

Opening times

  • Mon to Fri, 9am to 5pm