Groups & Organisations

Are you looking to organise a Daily Mile group? Do you want to promote the benefits of a Daily Mile to your group members or service users? Step into this toolkit.

It is packed with information, tips and guidance to help you plan and deliver a positive Daily Mile experience and help you to promote the benefits of a Daily Mile to your users.

The toolkit is divided into 6 sections;

(Each section can be quickly accessed by the below hyperlinks.)   

  1. Developing a Group Daily Mile
  2. Sharing the Health & Wellbeing Benefits of Walking
  3. Promoting a Daily Mile & Engaging Others
  4. Staying Motivated
  5. Learning Through The Daily Mile
  6. Celebrating Progress & Success

1. Developing a Group Daily Mile

You may be looking to:

  • Set up a Daily Mile group to be led by you or a colleague
  • Set up the opportunity to be self-managed
  • Promote the benefits of The Daily Mile to the group members/service users
  • Support others to establish a Daily Mile for your users

The Daily Mile 7 Steps to Success Guide will help you to achieve your vision. It includes further information, tips and useful links on the following 7 steps;  

  • Setting aims, outcomes & targets – helping you to focus your energies on the right things.
  • Consulting with others – finding out what your target audience want, when and how.
  • Sharing the health & wellbeing benefits – supporting others to recognise the benefits of The Daily Mile. (Also see Section 2: Sharing the Health & Wellbeing Benefits of The Daily Mile)
  • Planning – identifying routes, terrain, points of interest and calculating distances.
  • Promoting – raising awareness in creative ways to extend your reach (also see Section 3: Promoting a Daily Mile & Engaging others)
  • Goal Setting & Challenges – motivating participants through goal setting and challenges (team/individual)
  • Sustaining – helping participants maintain their new exercise habits (also see Section 4: Staying Motivated)

There are many free Apps and websites to help you Working Out a Mile or help you Planning a Route if you are looking for support or inspiration. These downloads include the direct links you will need.

If necessary refer to your organisation’s Health & Safety Policy

Working out a mile

Working out how far a mile is or how far you have walked isn’t always easy. Why not try the following ideas to help you;

  • At a steady pace a mile is about 20 minutes walking. Time yourself walking.
  • At a steady pace a mile is about 9/10 minutes running
  • Using free technology on your phone/tablet can help you to help count your steps. A mile is about 2,000 steps. Check out the download suggestions above.
  • Decide how long you want to run/jog/wheel/walk for, set a timer on your phone for half that time. When the alarm rings, turn around and go back to the start.
  • Build up to walking 10 minutes there and 10 minutes back or running 5 minutes there and back. This will be roughly a mile.

2. Sharing the Health & Wellbeing Benefits of The Daily Mile

One way to encourage taking part is to share the positive outcomes of walking a Daily Mile. Remember it only takes about 20 minutes to walk or 10 minutes to run a mile. The Daily Mile supports physical, emotional & mental wellbeing too.

The Daily Mile supports each of the Five Ways to Wellbeing, developed by the New Economics Foundation (2008) and used by many local, regional and national community & health organisations across the UK.

The five evidenced-based actions are designed to improve personal wellbeing, these are;

  • Connect – building connections with others can support and enrich you every day.
  • Keep Learning – learning something or visiting somewhere new can increase your confidence and your self-esteem. 
  • Be Active – moving  helps to release feel good hormones which support your overall wellbeing.
  • Give – giving time or words to others is proven to support wellbeing.  
  • Take Notice – enjoying the moment, being aware of the here and now and noticing the world around you can help you appreciate what matters. 

At a Glance – A Daily Mile can help…

3. Promoting a Daily Mile & Engaging Others

The best ways to promote a Daily Mile Walk will vary from group to group. A combination of promotional methods works well, we have developed some tools to help you.

Getting the messaging right:

  • Make sure the message resonates with the target audience. i.e. ‘Exercise more drive less’ ‘It’s only 20 minutes’ ‘2000 steps- that’s it!’
  • Create a message that speaks to the needs and interests of the target group.
  • Messaging should be focused on the target group and how a Daily Mile will benefit them. If a cup of tea/coffee is important at the end of a walk- use that message. If consultation shows people want to meet and mix with others, share that message. For example ‘The Daily Mile. Chat. Drink tea’  or ‘Let’s run/jog/wheel/walk & talk’
  • Remember, less is more when it comes to messaging.
  • You have approximately three seconds to capture an audience’s attention, keep messages interesting and snappy.
  • Create a name for the group such as; The Daily Milers or The It only takes 20 Club. Be imaginative or include this in the initial consultation to generate ideas from the target group.
  • Using hashtags# can work really well, For example #run #jog #wheel #walk #cuppa or #DailyMileandchat #DailyMile but always be mindful of your target group, not everyone knows what a # is!

Daily Mile Poster

Customise this poster template to display in shops, doctors or local venues-using a variety of places will increase your reach.

You could laminate these for outdoor use or for use with whiteboard pens, to wipe clean and update. This saves on paper/printing too.

Space is provided for you to add your organisation’s logo too.

Choosing the sweet spots to reach your target group. 

  • Customise the poster and flyer templates to display in shops, doctors or local venues-using a variety of places will increase your reach. (There is space for your logo to be added to these downloads too if you wish.)
  • Distribute the flyers where they will be seen & picked up.
  • Use the downloadable noticeboard headers to create an eye catching Daily Mile zone on your community noticeboards.
  • Use the At a Glance Poster and Five Ways to Wellbeing Poster to share the ‘Why Run/Jog/Wheel/Walk?’ messages.
  • Write a press release to local newspapers or share on local radio.
  • Share plans via FacebookTwitter or group WhatsApp where appropriate.
  • Leave voice messages to targeted members.
  • Decide how you will launch The Daily Mile group/opportunity.

Daily Mile Invitation

Download a Daily Mile Invitation and invite friends, family, or colleagues to enjoy a Daily Mile with you

4. Staying Motivated

The Daily Mile Staying Motivated Guide will help to motivate participants and provides tips & ideas about the following;

  • Finding inspiration & setting bite sized goals
  • Rewarding progress
  • Making it fun & mixing it up a bit
  • The Daily Mile with others
  • Tracking progress is a great motivator.  Choose what you want to track and print a Daily Mile Minute Tracker or a Daily Mile Step Tracker (up to 10,000 steps and up to 20,000 steps to record progress on. Display at  work or at home as an additional motivator.
  • Daily Mile Diary  is a great way to monitor progress made and provides a space to record how exercising makes us feel too.

Track your progress

Choose what you want to track and print a Daily Mile Minute Tracker, or a Daily Mile Step Tracker to record your progress on.
Display at work or at home as an additional motivator.

Monitor your progress

A Daily Mile Diary is a great way to monitor progress made and provides a space to record how walking makes us feel too.

5. Learning Through The Daily Mile

The Daily Mile provides a great opportunity to learn, see new things, visit new places and explore.

  • Running/jogging/wheeling/walking even a mile can open our eyes to new places, new experiences and new people.
  • The same route in  the opposite direction can look and feel very different.
  • A guided Daily Mile can be used to visit particular points of interest. Even familiar places can be seen differently when explored by foot so don’t discount local routes from your planning.
  • The Daily Mile can be themed, with routes specially chosen for their location, such as urban, parks, fields, and town.
  • Participants can learn from each other with increased social interaction opportunities.
  • The Daily Mile can also help us to learn about ourselves, our bodies and our minds.
  • If running/jogging/wheeling/walking with others who might enjoy some activities along the way, try The Daily Mile activity sheets to help to explore and learn from the environment. There are activities for all ages, stages and abilities, big groups, small groups, families & individuals.

Download the activity sheets:

I Can See It Bingo Sheet

Try the ‘I Can See It Bingo’ sheet and see how many of the treasures you can spot on your Daily Mile. Aim for a complete line, column or a full house of ticks. Maybe compete against another person, group or family.

Check out the other activities in this toolkit- there’s quite a variety! (See above for links)

Scavenger Hunt

The Daily Mile Scavenger Hunt encourages discovery and explorationFun for all ages and abilities.

Remember there are other activities in this toolkit- there’s something for everyone. (See above for links)

6. Celebrating Progress & Success

Remember to celebrate progress and success. Celebrating winners of challenges can be great but also consider celebrating progress too, such as consistency of participants, new participants or those who recruit new participants. But only if they want the recognition!

  • Encourage participants to reward themselves and each other with something positive & healthy when they reach their goals.
  • Take time out to phone a friend for a chat, buy a magazine to read, sit outdoors and enjoy the sounds. Small gifts of time to themselves and others can be very fulfilling.
  • Have a ‘Daily Miler of the Week/Month’
  • Provide a Daily Mile Certificate to group members or if promoting a Daily Mile share the link for them to download their own. 

Be proud, celebrate and continue your good work