Get Walking Lanarkshire currently organises 33 free weekly health walks which last no longer than an hour and go at a gentle pace.

Local people who take part in the walks have shared their top 10 benefits:

• make friends and enjoy company
• gentle exercise improves mobility and general health
• fresh air
• short distances of the walks are accessible for most people
• getting to know the local area
• better sleep afterwards
• enjoying nature and green spaces
• having a regular date in the diary encourages participation
• mental health benefits from being out and about
• helping to manage weight

A social media campaign will tell the positive experiences of some of the hundreds of people who take part each week @GetWalking Lanarkshire

Get Walking Lanarkshire is a partnership between South and North Lanarkshire Councils, NHS Lanarkshire and Paths for All.

The partners met at Strathclyde Country Park to celebrate the 10th anniversary which has now seen nearly 76,000 walkers on more than 7000 weekly health walks across Lanarkshire assisted by 90 walk volunteer leaders.

Margaret Cooper, Provost of South Lanarkshire, said: “Over the last 10 years Get Walking Lanarkshire has shown that everyone, no matter what their fitness level, can get out and about in their local area, make friends and not only improve their physical but also their mental health.”

And North Lanarkshire’s Provost Kenneth Duffy added: “The number of health walks has grown steadily as more people have joined. We are now looking ahead to how the initiative can continue to grow and enable more people to take part in fun, healthy exercise.”

For details of all the weekly walks, go to www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/getwalking.