Residents invited to 'Get Active' as part of new borough-wide festival

Residents invited to 'Get Active' as part of new borough-wide festival

The first ever Big Wigan Walk Week takes place from 27 May to 4 June

People all over Wigan Borough are being encouraged to get out and about this May and June as part of a series of free family-friendly walking and cycling events.

Headlining Be Well’s first ever Get Active Festival are two brand-new occasions - the Big Wigan Walk Week (27 May - 4 June) and the Big Wigan Bike Week (3-11 June).

Local leisure centres will also be setting a special cycling challenge for members while there’s more bike-based fun in store as the always popular Cycle Three Sisters returns to Three Sisters Circuit on Tuesday 23 May.

The four-week festival of physical activity also incorporates Walk to School Week (15-19 May) when schoolchildren across the region and nationwide are challenged to shun the school bus and walk to class.

Councillor Chris Ready, Wigan Council’s portfolio holder for communities and neighbourhoods, said: “Walking and cycling are both fantastic for our physical and mental health and, as well as being better for the environment, can also be great fun!

“Our Get Active Festival is all about getting out into the fresh air and exploring our brilliant borough with all its beautiful parks and green spaces such as Haigh Woodland Park and the nationally recognised Flashes of Wigan and Leigh.

“We’ll also be showcasing parts of our wonderful TfGM Bee Network, an initiative to make it easier and safer to walk and cycle throughout Greater Manchester.

“Free events have been planned all across the borough for people of all ages and abilities, but even if you can’t make it along to one of our organised walks or rides then it’s still the perfect time to get out and get active - whether on your own or with family and friends.”

Arriving towards the end of National Walking Month, the Big Wigan Walk Week will feature more than 30 organised walks over the space of nine days - including nature-themed strolls and routes of historical interest.

Among the highlights are an opening day jaunt at Pennington Flash (27 May), a nine-mile GM Ringway trek taking in stretches of the Leeds-Liverpool canal (31 May), and a moonlit amble around Haigh Woodland Park (3 June), while the schedule concludes with a celebration walk at Mesnes Park on Sunday 4 June.

A day earlier, the Big Wigan Bike Week will get underway with a Leigh Bike Library event at Leigh Sports Village to mark World Bicycle Day (Saturday 3 June). Residents can sign up to loan bikes for up to a month at a time, while Pennington Spinners Club will be delivering a free Go-Ride taster session for young people.

Through the course of the week there will also rides for beginners and more confident cyclists alike - including ‘Bike and Brew’ events at Three Sisters nature reserve in Ashton-in-Makerfield and Pennington Hall Park, Leigh.

The festival coincides with the centenary of Bike Week in the UK.