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• Following a Path to Health

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Walkers in a Knowsley park are being given extra motivation to step up the pace towards a healthy lifestyle with a new purpose built trail.

The Health Trail has been set up in St Johns Millennium Green, Huyton, guiding visitors along a purpose built track, suggesting various exercises they could carry out along the way.

Encouraging messages and descriptions of various exercises that benefit different parts of the body have been carved into recycled stone, making an attractive and informative feature to the park.

The trail, which is a fifth of a mile in length, has been created by Groundwork St Helens, Knowsley, Sefton and Liverpool, in partnership with Knowsley Council, and paid for by a grant of £8,500 from Barclays Sitesavers . Local people worked with artist Thomson Dagnell, who was born in Kirkby, to design the trail and ensure it would become the kind of feature regular visitors would use.

Justin Dalrymple, Project Officer for Groundwork, said: “The idea of the trail is to encourage people to think about the kind of exercise they do and to offer advice to show how easy it is to make small lifestyle alterations which help us lead much healthier lives.”

Sarah Jeffrey, Project Officer for Environmental Initiatives at Knowsley Council, said: “The Health Trail is a fantastic addition to St John’s Millennium Green, and we hope plenty of people will come down to have a look at the work that has been done – and try walking the trail themselves.

“As well as encouraging people to get out into one of the many attractive green open spaces Knowsley has to offer, it’s also a way of making them think about taking more exercise.”

As well as the Health Trail, St John’s Millennium Green boasts a 'hill fort' mound reflecting the once moated site of Huyton Hey Manor nearby, a public event area, an outdoor 'amphitheatre' and Millennium Feature. It also features a 'millennium date line' feature, comprising four brass plaques set into the paths, illustrating local history over the past 1,000 years.

Car parking is available on Manor Farm Road, and the park is fully wheelchair accessible.

PHOTO: Youngsters try out some of the exercises suggested along the way on the St John’s Millennium Green Health Trail.

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