Walking Challenges & Treks
- Northern Ireland opened registration for a free June Active Travel Challenge to swap car trips for walking, cycling, or public transit. (saferhighways.co.uk) - Greater Manchester's GM Walking Festival returns May 1, and Craig Ferguson reached 1,500 miles in his 3,000‑mile trek across the U.S. this week. (ilovemanchester.com) - These organized events and human‑interest treks are being used to boost health, local participation, and visibility for active travel. (saferhighways.co.uk)
Northern Ireland has opened registration for a free June challenge that asks people to swap everyday car trips for walking, cycling, running, public transport or car sharing. (healthwell.eani.org.uk) The Active Travel Challenge runs from June 1 to June 30 and uses an online platform where participants log journeys and compete in a nationwide challenge. Organizers say the 2025 edition drew more than 1,600 people, who logged more than 27,000 journeys, saved over £22,000 in travel costs and cut more than 18,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide. (atc.getmeactive.org.uk, healthwell.eani.org.uk) In Greater Manchester, the GM Walking Festival starts on Friday, May 1, 2026, with more than 350 free events scheduled across the city-region through May 31. The program is coordinated by Greater Manchester Moving and includes group-led walks designed around distance, accessibility and links to public transport. (ilovemanchester.com, gmwalking.co.uk) The events sit inside a broader public push to make “active travel” a normal part of daily transport, not just exercise. Northern Ireland’s Department for Infrastructure describes active travel as sustainable transport policy focused on walking and cycling, and it has continued publishing new scheme updates and consultations in 2026. (infrastructure-ni.gov.uk) Festival organizers in Greater Manchester are tying that message to National Walking Month and a 2026 theme of “Celebrating Connected Communities.” The official festival material says every walk is free and intended to make getting active feel social and easy to access. (ilovemanchester.com, gmringway.org) Alongside those organized events, long-distance treks are giving active travel a human face. Craig Ferguson, a 22-year-old from Paisley, reached the 1,500-mile mark in Kansas on Tuesday, April 21, during a 3,000-mile walk from Santa Monica, California, to Boston, Massachusetts. (news.stv.tv, standard.co.uk) STV reported that Ferguson set off on February 22 after leaving his job at Nando’s and hopes to arrive in Boston before Scotland’s opening World Cup match with Haiti. He is also trying to become the first man to walk across the United States in a kilt and has raised more than £100,000 for mental health charity SAMH. (news.stv.tv, msn.com) Taken together, the June challenge, the May festival and Ferguson’s cross-country walk all turn walking from a private habit into a public campaign with dates, targets and visible milestones. In the next five weeks, the test is whether sign-ups and turnout follow the attention these projects are getting. (healthwell.eani.org.uk, ilovemanchester.com, news.stv.tv)
