Can You Beat The Street?

We caught up with a man making a difference: Dr William Bird, who is responsible for turning our towns and villages into giant games

“When I became a GP in 1991 I realised there were many people with conditions, such as diabetes and other lifestyle issues, where medication was not the answer,” says Dr. William Bird, from Reading. “These people could benefit from getting more active and doing more exercise. But going to the gym is not easy or enjoyable for many, so I devised the Health Walks scheme – a free and accessible way of getting people to start walking. These became popular thanks to the companionship and social nature of the sessions.”

A year later, Dr. Bird created Green Gyms. “Again, these contain elements of nature and socializing together in fun and free outdoor sessions where people join forces to take part in practical activities, such as planting trees, sowing meadows and establishing wildlife ponds,” he says.

Today, Health Walks and Green Gyms are thriving throughout the UK with an estimated four million people have gone through a scheme over the years.

But that wasn’t enough for Dr. Bird. “In 1999, I knocked on the door at the Met Office and eventually they let me in as the first medical director,” he says. “We worked on linking air quality with poor health and the effect that climate change would have on the health of populations –a new concept at the time.”