Ellen Dempsey – Living Well Hero

Before lockdown Ellen walked most days, doing school runs and to get to work. But when she changed to working from home and her son started high school, she found she had very little need to walk regularly.

Ellen said: “In the past I found enjoyment from walking and getting my steps in motivated me, so I knew I needed to do more for the benefit of my health.

“I was thinking of ways I could increase my physical activity and around this time I came across the Living Well 20 Minute Movement. This appealed to me as I don’t find enjoyment from going to a gym. Taking on board the 20 Minute Movement message, I decided to set myself a goal to do 20 minutes of movement most days by going out litter picking to increase my steps. I aimed to do it first thing in the morning, when I would have previously been doing school runs and walking to work. I focussed on litter picking in the area where I live, with a goal of doing it whilst keeping up a brisk walking pace.

“In the past year my steps have increased by more than 50%! Another benefit I never expected has been the social interaction and connections I’ve made with people locally. Litter picking creates a talking point and the social interaction has been very welcome, as working from home can be quite isolating. I now feel more connected to my community.

“It really helps getting me outside more, taking in the nature in the urban area where I live, listening to the birds, watching animals going about their business and even the feel of the rain on my face! I generally do more than 20 minutes now, but even if I’m short of time, I will still try and encourage myself to do at least 20 minutes.

“In the small residential area where I focussed my 20 Minute Movement, I collected 3,200 litres of litter in a year! That included over 1,500 drink cans and more than 600 plastic drink bottles.

“I came across the Litter Lotto app and started logging some of the litter I disposed of and I’ve actually won a few prizes including a £1000 jackpot! I also redeemed some of the coins I earned through the app, which was enough for trees to be planted for every day of the last year!

“I’ve now linked with other people who live locally to apply for funding to buy litter picking equipment so that others can increase their own physical activity through litter picking!”

Find out more about the 20 Minute Movement and Litter Lotto