The advice generally given by doctors and researchers is that what is good for your heart is also good for your brain. This encompasses physical exercise, including a bit of walking.
In fact, this NHS web page specifically states that you can reduce your risk of dementia by 30% through an appropriate exercise regimen.
It makes sense to me – improving circulation and strengthening the cardiovascular system must help maintain a good supply of oxygen to the brain. We’re talking brisk walking here, not ambling past a few shop windows or shuffling forward in a queue.
So it’s always good to report a fundraising activity which happens also to be good for the longer term health prospects of those taking part. There’s a message in it as well as extra funds for research. Some of the exercise-based fundraising is physically very challenging – running a marathon, for example – but it doesn’t have to be.
By coincidence, I have found myself today reporting on two walking activities, one recent and one imminent, which belong towards opposite ends of the scale.
If you want something at the more challenging end, how about a medieval pilgrimage? Three supporters from Northern Ireland have followed in the footsteps of medieval Christians by walking about 800 miles from France, through the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela.
What their final fundraising total is, we don’t yet know, but they have sent us some great photos and some snippets of their story.
An 800 mile trek might not be everyone’s idea of a good time (actually, I’d love to do this one day if I ever have the time). However, at the other end of the scale, the Rotary Club of Nailsea & Backwell in North Somerset are offering a day of walks for charity on 23rd June. The walks range from a 5 kilometre “stroll” to a more challenging 20km route, all through attractive countryside. Those who want to make it a bit more challenging can decide to run instead of walk.
If you live in North Somerset or not far away, why not book a place via the Rotary Club website? You could nominate BRACE as your charity and raise funds for research while doing your own cardiovascular system and brain a bit of good.
The fact is, walking might be good for the walker’s brain, but right now it is proving helpful to the brains of everyone who will one day benefit from research funded by sponsored walking.
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