Big Way Of Life

Walking is one of best and easiest ways to keep fit and families from around the Pembrokeshire region are putting their walking boots on thanks to Way of Life project Pembrokeshire Family Challenge.

Families involved in the project are currently in the process of tackling the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, a 186-mile coastal trial that stretches from Amroth in the south to St Dogmaels in the north.

Obviously, they are not walking it all in one go. Instead they are completing shorter (although still lengthy) sections of it over the year.

So far families have walked from Amroth to Tenby, Tenby to Manorbier and from Stackpole to Broad Haven. Each of these walks last a period of several days, which were split up into smaller walks on each of the days.

The first leg of the challenge, from Amroth to Tenby took place on 3rd April. Nine families joined in during the day, which ended with a barbeque on the beach.

"It was great to get out of the house and do something different with the whole family", said one family member. "It was great fun." Another commented, "It was nice to get out of the house during the school holidays and take part in something active, we will definitely walk on the coast path again."

The coast path has been divided up into different sections from one to six miles including family walks, pushchair friendly and more demanding treks so there is something for everyone. Families can take part as much or as little as they like, with some doing all the walks and some only completing one or two.

"We're very lucky in Pembrokeshire in that we have this great resource - the coast path - on our doorstep" said Councillor Sian James, Cabinet member for Health and Well-being. Walking is one of the best exercises there is and what better way to keep fit than to get out into the fresh air and walk a bit of it."

The project also provides a minibus service in order to take the families back to their cars once they have completed the walk.

Project leader Katie Daly is delighted with how the challenge is going so far.

She said: "All the walks so far have been really well attended and the feedback we've had has been great, everyone has really seemed to enjoy it. It's also a really good advert for the area. It shows that these paths are accessible to people and that they can get outside and enjoy them. Hopefully we can get some more families involved for the remainder of the walks."

Originally all the walks were to be completed by the end of the summer holidays but this has now been extended and walks will take place throughout the rest of year.

For more information or to join the challenge call 01437 775775, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.healthchallengepembrokeshire.co.uk.