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COMPILED BY ALEX LLOYD
Step in the right direction
PHOTOGRAPHS: GETTY IMAGES; SHUTTERSTOCK
It’s free, easy and kept us all sane during lockdown. But if your daily strolls have become less of a habit since real life had a reboot, why not try Walk This May? It’s the new mantra of this year’s National Walking Month, which promotes the benefits of travelling on foot – whether that’s staying in shape physically and mentally, or saving money and the planet.
If you’re lacking motivation and are bored by just hitting a certain number of steps, you can see what a difference walking really makes at livingstreets.org.uk. It shows you how much CO2 you’ll keep out of the air and the calories you’ll use by walking short trips instead of driving, plus you can pledge a target to keep you motivated. Participants last year burnt off a combined total of 10.5 million calories!
On course for equality
The pandemic has inspired British women to grab a golf club, after the sport was one of the first to restart as restrictions were lifted, and offered the ideal socially distanced outdoor form of exercise.
Research by The R&A, golf’s governing body, found that female participation tripled in 2020, with nearly 1.5m women playing a full round that year. This meant women made up 28 per cent of all golfers, compared to just 14 per cent in 2019. However, it seems like the club house is still mainly a man’s world: only one in seven club members are female.