"If you don’t know where to start, go on a walk"

Sophia has a passion for walking and in her spare time runs a walking group for Black women and women of colour in Bristol called Steppin’ Sistas.

Sophia has always loved being active, at school she loved PE, swimming and dancing and when she reached her early 20’s she found a real love of walking and connecting with nature. Sophia uses movement to manage her stress and mental health and believes in its powers both spiritually and mentally.

During COVID, Sophia used walking as a coping mechanism and she wondered if there were other women who (like her) who would like to go out on a walk to feel better. With this in mind, Sophia put up a Facebook post asking if anyone would like to join her on a walk and 25 women turned up, there was a lot of emotion, tears and laughter and the women said ‘can we do this again?’ and that is when Sophia decided to set up a walking group for Black women and women of colour.

Sophia said:

“I know the benefits of walking for myself and I am an empathetic person, and I could see people in my community struggling so I made a Facebook group in COVID and offered walks to Black women and women of colour. It was so fantastic to see each other, lots of emotions, tears and laughter and lots of women who wanted to do it again.

“We started with a group of six women and now we are up to 1800 women, with women coming from all over the South West to join a walk (Gloucester, Swindon, Wiltshire and London). The walks happen about once or twice a month and we normally have around 75 people on the waiting list for each walk. We walk mainly in the countryside, forests or coastal areas because of the quality of the air and the connection to nature.

“We hear a lot of feedback from the participants about how beneficial it has been, for example one women said she had not slept properly for seven years she had a good sleep for the first time and has now been coming for the last four years. One women after going on one of my walks went home and her small son said ‘you have changed, you seem a bit calmer’.

“I know from experience how hard it can be to join a club where everyone looks different from you and you feel like you stick out. I wanted to create a safe space where women felt comfortable and look like them and have shared experiences , the group provides someone to talk to who understands and does not judge and people love it and enjoy coming back, we welcome all women of colour, we have women from a number of different backgrounds, our current groups have women from African, Asian, Mexican and Canada.

“We have people aged from 18 to 75 ages with a mix of professions, nurses, doctors, teachers but we are just being ourselves, we walk about whet they feel and it is nice because you see everyone smiling, and friendships and connections are made and it’s life-changing for some people who were isolated, I love it because it is giving back to the community and it is a passion.

“I fully support the Every Move Matters campaign and its aim to encourage people to move in any way they want, no movement is wrong and walking is something that is accessible to most people so I would say to people, if you don’t know where to start, go on a walk, it could be around your house, around the park or with a walking group, it’s great fun and you will feel much better afterwards.”

Sophia’s walks have been so successful that the men in the community have also set up a walking group, called Steppin’ Bruddas. She also set up a Windrush Walk around St Paul’s in Bristol, on Windrush Day on 22 June. The event was a celebration and a commemoration, followed by a party in St Agnes’ Park.