Our Mission To present Yorkshire as the walking capital of the UK!
Our Campaign #Walkshire: a year-long celebration of walking in Yorkshire • Providing routes across all parts of the county • Ensuring a range of walks accessible to all • Promoting health benefits of habitual walking • Encouraging preservation of our landscapes • Supporting local businesses and initiatives
Campaign Aims • To share a Yorkshire walk each day during 2021 • To encourage locals to be active and explore the region on foot • To change perceptions around walking as an exclusive hobby • To promote physical and mental wellbeing • To celebrate the beauty and diversity of Yorkshire • To fundraise for and amplify the message of Yorkshire Cancer Research
Walkshire: Accessible to All We ensured that everyone could participate in Walkshire. People of all ages and walks of life, living in any UK location. • • • • •
Showcasing walks in all corners of the county: urban, coast and countryside Sorting walks by theme including family-friendly and wheelchair accessible Providing different formats for each walk from GPX routes to downloadable maps Clearly labelling walks with a distance and difficulty rating Considering public transport options to the walk start and end points
Our Partners It was a joy to work with wonderful local partners for Walkshire, in-turn supporting their own health and environmental initiatives.
Partnerships in Practice An overview of how we worked with each of our partners: • Raising awareness and driving donations for Yorkshire Cancer Research • Providing advice, inspiration and gear for new hikers with TOG24 • Promoting urban walks and cycle paths with Sustrans and Canal & River Trust • Encouraging eco-friendly travel by public transport through Transdev • Showcasing local nature and how to protect it with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
Our Contributors We were overwhelmed with requests from walking enthusiasts eager to contribute to our Walkshire campaign. Working with 20 local influencers, writers and companies in addition to our main partners led to a collection of incredibly varied walking routes celebrating everything from Father’s Day and Black History Month to litter picking and photography.
Contributor Content A selection of content from our incredible contributors: • • • • •
Find the Gruffalo on the Leeds Canal New Year’s Day Dog Walk at Sandsend Shared Histories – Leeds Black History Walk Audio Walks from Open Country
Inclusive Walking with Experience Community • Walking Yorkshire on Father’s Day
Walkshire logo Campaigns within a Campaign Tour de Walkshire • Replaced our annual Tour de Yorkshire cycling event • Encouraged people to do daily walks throughout May • Completed over 45,000 miles collectively • Raised money for Yorkshire Cancer Research
Captain Tom 100 • Kicked off May by promoting the Captain Tom 100 challenge to fundraise further
Recognition Walkshire received widespread regional recognition during 2021 Highlights: • Front page of BBC Yorkshire on launch day • Finalist for UK Social Media Awards – Best Not For Profit Campaign • Shortlisted for Best Social Purpose Campaign in the Prolific North Marketing Awards
Walk of the Day We shared a walk a day, every day, for all 365 days of 2021. Each walk was shared across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, with each post linking to more information for the local area. All routes will stay on our website and blog, giving us a bank of diverse Yorkshire walks that anyone can access at any time.
Most Popular Yorkshire Walks • Coast: Whitby to Robin Hood’s Bay • East: Bishop Wilton and Deep Dale • South: Lady Canning’s Plantation • West: Leeds Dock to Knostrop Lock
Most Popular Yorkshire walks • Moors: Hole of Horcum • North: Ripon to Fountains Abbey • Dales: Burnsall & Troller’s Ghyll
Online Response
Social Reach
• 100,500 website visitors
• 14,527,439 impressions
• 257,700 page views
• 175,875 engagements
• 15,820 blog reads
• 42,975 link clicks
What’s Next? Collaborate with us on our current campaign ‘Yorkshire Menu’, a year-long celebration of the best food and drink in the county. Walking will continue to be a key theme throughout the year with monthly route round-ups and trails centred around food and drink. Get in touch to pitch your products and share county culinary gems. Together we will highlight Yorkshire as the food capital of the UK.
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