How The Conservation Volunteers can help you get active and move more outdoors

Active Sussex’s Marketing and Communications officer Alex Bunce sets off to Horam in East Sussex to learn more about the ‘Green Gym’.

When you hear the term ‘Green Gym’, you can be forgiven for thinking that this is an outdoor exercise class.

But if you are more interested in sturdy boots and getting your hands dirty rather than lycra leggings and sweatbands, this activity may be more up your street.

Run by The Conservation Volunteers (TCV), the Green Gym runs on Wednesdays and Thursdays on the Cuckoo Trail between Heathfield and Polegate and is a chance to get active in the great outdoors.

I was invited along to The Cuckoo Trail, and our task for the morning was clearing away brambles and other vegetation that was impacting a group of wild service trees that had naturally regenerated alongside the path.

Becky Lewis, a Senior Project Officer for TCV, led the activity, and local resident David Brown joined us.

The session started with a stroll along part of the trail to the trees, dragging a wheelbarrow with all the equipment—as well as the all-important tea and biscuits—that we would need for the morning.

As we walked along, I talked to 80-year-old David to find out why he enjoyed these sessions so much.

“I am already quite active in that I work three mornings in a wood, but this adds to the list of things that I do, and it is relaxing,” he says, going on to say how he appreciates the light to moderate exercise the activity offers him.

“It is nice to have company; I tend to be a bit chatty, and it is very stimulating,” he adds. 

Jobs during the three-hour Green Gym sessions range from painting white lines along the edge of the old station platform in Horam to litter picking, small-scale coppicing, vegetation clearance and scrub removal.

The Green Gym sessions are one of two activities you can participate in as part of the Cuckoo Trail project. 

The other is a health walk, which takes place on Tuesday mornings.  

The project has been made possible through Wealden District Council funding from the Shared Prosperity Fund.

All activities take place in Heathfield, Hellingly, Hailsham, Horam, and Polegate on a rota.

While we were busy with conservation work, it was lovely to see how the Cuckoo Trail was used.

The original railway line was closed as part of the Beeching cuts in the 1960s and is now a 14-mile surfaced path through the Sussex countryside, stretching from Heathfield to Shinewater Park and passing through Horam, Hailsham, and Polegate.

Alongside walkers of all ages, some with dogs, wheelchairs, and pushchairs, many cyclists passed as the trail forms part of the National Cycle Network in East Sussex.

You can also ride horses along parts of the trail. One horse and its young rider were very interested in what we were doing.

“I think everybody benefits from being outside,” says Becky. “Being active is good for us physically, mentally and emotionally, and these sessions provide a way to be outside and active, and the tasks we carry out are person-centred, so suitable for different levels of fitness, ability and interest.

“You do not have to come every week; it is not an onerous activity. You are getting out, meeting people, doing things, and getting things done.”

TCV’s slogan is ‘Connecting People and Green Spaces,’ and these health walks and Green Gym sessions certainly help with that.

Did you know? This Girl Can’s current campaign is “Let’s Get Out There,” which encourages women to get active outdoors.

The mission is to show that natural environments, from urban parks and canals, to coastal paths and forests, are for all women and that by being outside, you can enjoy the many physical and mental health benefits gained from spending time in green and blue spaces.

To find out more about the This Girl Can campaign and how you can encourage more people to be active outdoors, visit www.activesussex.org/news-and-campaigns/latest-news/this-girl-can-encourages-more-women-to-move-more-outside-through-new-campaign/

For more information about TCV, visit www.tcv.org.uk/