National football partnership helps more West Midlands Parkinson's communities get into walking football

Since the walking football project between Parkinson’s UK and the Walking Football Association first started in 2023, 12 clubs have launched walking football sessions for the Parkinson’s community and more than 100 people living with the condition across England now play the sport on a regular basis. 

The aim of the project was to help more people living with Parkinson’s to enjoy an active lifestyle in a fun and social way that didn’t require specialist equipment or prior knowledge of the sport. 

Walking football has continued to grow in popularity since it first started in 2011 and the WFA is continuing to provide more training and guidance for football clubs and coaches to help them deliver more walking football sessions for people living with long term health conditions. 

These are just a few of the following clubs and community foundations that the funding has helped to deliver walking football sessions for people living with Parkinson's: 

• Parkinson’s Pioneers West Midlands – Women’s Walking Football group

• Hartshill Strollers Healthwise Group

• Eastleigh Walking Football Club Mobility Sessions

• Sunderland, Foundation of Light

• Derby County and NHS Trust

Advice and practical support has also been given to a number of other sessions around England, who were able to secure funding from other sources, these include: 

• Abbeymead Rovers 

• Gloucester 

• Cirencester 

• Stokesley 

• Coventry Sky Blues 

• Taunton 

• Newcastle Well-Played

Speaking about the growth and impact of walking football in the UK, Stuart Langworthy, Director at the Walking Football Association, said: “The whole walking football project has been such a rewarding experience and during lockdown I met a number of people with Parkinson’s who had experienced the benefits of playing walking football and who wanted to share this in their community. 

“Following the end of the pandemic, we set out on a mission to make walking football more accessible for people living with long term health conditions, such as Parkinson’s.

“We wanted to show that anyone could play the sport and have access to a more local, fun, friendly, safe and inclusive exercise class. We are delighted with the success of the project which has given even more people living with long term health conditions the opportunity to lead an active and engaging lifestyle. 

"We are now close to having 200 players attending our sessions in England and we hope that even more people living with long term health conditions will be able to benefit from playing walking football in the future.” 

Anna Castiaux, Physical Activity Programme Lead at Parkinson’s UK, said: “Walking football continues to be a really popular activity for people living with Parkinson’s and we are delighted to see what was achieved by the Walking Football Association. 

“Being active can be one of the best ways to help you live well with Parkinson’s and it’s great to see that walking football continues to be so popular amongst the Parkinson’s community. 

“Parkinson’s UK continues to work with our partners to deliver more opportunities to be active across the UK and we hope that the success of the walking football programme in England can be a catalyst for other organisations to get involved and expand their provision for those living with Parkinson’s." 

For more information about the Walking Football Association, or to find your nearest club, visit: thewfa.co.uk/club-directory