The Tooting Common Walk and Talk celebrates its third birthday this week and it highlights the simple pleasure – and power for good – of weekly walk and talks.
Hundreds of walkers and talkers have enjoyed more than 160 walk and talks run by the community for the community. Together they have walked more than 500km in total around the beautiful Tooting Commons area. Thanks to an amazing group of volunteers, who turn up rain or shine, the group has never missed a Saturday 10.30am walk yet. In fact on the worst weather day of all, only one walker turned up but there were two volunteers there to greet him. The weather was so bad that the three of them were immortalised in a painting by a local artist! This is characteristic of Tooting Common Walk and Talk’s kind and reliable volunteers who always go the extra mile.
The Tooting Commons are always enjoyable and the group has also made some great visits – to a bowling club, two community gardens, three churches (including a tour round a crypt!), a community hub, Tooting Bec Lido and an art gallery.
They have spotted woodpeckers, a kestrel, parakeets, terrapins, ducks and swans. Admired bluebells, daffodils, crocuses, violets, blossom and berries.
Apart from the weekly events themselves, what has been lovely to see is how people have connected with each other and with the wider community as a result.
Here are some lovely examples:
Walkers and Talkers introduce others to clubs and events in the local area. Thanks to the Tooting Common Walk and Talk, local community members have started attending Darby and Joan clubs, local history talks, film nights, swimming at the Lido and the Pavilion on the Common itself.
Many walkers have become friends and meet up at other times for a coffee, a beer or a walk.
Some check in on each other if one is ill or recovering from an operation and let the rest of the group know how they’re doing. It’s always great when they return to the Walk and Talks.
Some walkers attend Walk and Talks, hear about other events and then move on – for brilliant reasons. A great example is a man who came along a few times to try and get fit, after his doctor recommended us to him. Through other walkers, he found out about Tooting parkrun and Tooting Run Club. He gave them a try, got hooked and has since lost weight, got fit and become a regular runner. The walkers still say a friendly helllo and it’s great to know that they played a small part in his success.
The Tooting Common Walk and Talk volunteers are amazing and contribute so much to the ongoing success of the group with their reliability and cheerfulness – but they also talk about how much they gain from it too – not just the feeling of giving back to the community but also getting to know all of the walkers and feeling a genuine sense of connection to them.
They youngest volunteer started supporting walks when he was just 16 for his Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. He’s just completed the necessary 52 hours of volunteering that he needs to qualify – but he’s going to keep volunteering because he enjoys it so much, feels a sense of achievement and likes spending time with the participants – even though most of them are much older than him.
The Tooting Common Walk and Talk community is a great reminder of why Walk and Talks are so special. So a huge happy birthday to everybody involved. You really deserve many many congratulations.
Click here to find out about Walk and Talks inspired by The Walk and Talk Movement
