Come for a walk – virtual armchair walking group

by Helen Hunter, Musical Memories Choir

Format of event

This is an example of a ‘passively participative’ group. A few times a week I went for an early morning walk and took photographs and short films on my iPhone as I went. These were shot in a way to make the viewer feel as though they are joining me on the walk, seeing what I see, hearing the sounds and feeling some of the sensory benefits of a beautiful walk. this was done from my front door through local woods, beaches and streets.

Tech and method of connection:

I used my I phone and then edited them in the phone to relaxing music. The walk was 2 hours and another hour for editing. I then uploaded the walks to Facebook, Youtube and our website and sent a link to everyone on our mailing list so that they could easily access the walks. I would phrase an invitation to ‘come with me for a walk’. I was then messaged by people who viewed it and we would chat about aspects they’d enjoyed. I had requests to walk in favourite areas. People spoke of it being a huge benefit and a breath of fresh air when they were unable to leave their home. I felt connected to people even though we couldn’t meet in person.

What can this bring to a community?

Connection to nature, stress relief, people used the films as part of a daily routine to sit and watch at a certain time with a cuppa. They were able to see the world was still out there even though they couldn’t get out and helped them know they were not forgotten. Carers were able to use these walk films and the choir sing at home sessions as a form of respite. They found that if their loved one with dementia was watching, they had some time to themselves to go to another room.

Group size:

limitless

Frequency

I made 25 films over 3 months

Example agenda:

This could be replicated in any area or landscape whether rural, costal or urban. I did not put myself into the films and just photographed what I saw and edited them to music with my phone. It is very easy to do this on an iPhone. People love to see familiar sights from their area.

Links:

https://www.musicalmemorieschoir.co.uk/video. – scroll down to virtual walks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agjqrzmylzg&list=PLeg8Xmsiu1p2lh32nINlpUAgSHcW62-2w
Another lovely example of this is Stillwalks