“The Go 10,000 journey has been a busy one, Precedent creating a project blog is a huge step forward - it’s going to be really exciting to pull in all my previous learning, the brilliant prize sessions and now as we prepare to pilot, our future approaches.

It’s also going to be a great place to collect all the conversations going on related to Go 10,000 – there’s plenty of stuff to keep on top of! The upcoming Olympics, initiatives such as the Boris Bikes and 2011 being named the year of walking to name but a few… it’s a really exciting time to be involved in a project that aims to get people moving.

It’s been great watching my vision spring to life, and I’m determined to keep that momentum as we look towards the pilot stages with NHS London.”

The project also announced the brand new Go 10,000 logo, designed by M&C Saatchi as part of the winners prize pack earlier on in the month. After careful consideration and taking a look through all your suggestions (thank you all for those!) the team decided to go for clear favourite Logo F:

Armed with both a new logo and a blog in the making, we spent a some time setting up the project around the web so that Go 10,000 is ready to go, getting the word out as the project moves forward and prepares for pilot.

You can now follow Go 10,000 over on twitter, @Go_10000 and Facebook – get following/liking and make sure you say hello!

The new Go 10,000 blog will be ready in the next week or so – keep an eye out here for news of it’s launch. The Go 10,000 pilot is looking to run in the next few months… we’ll keep you posted!

Many thanks to Precedent for generously donating their designer’s time to help our winning idea – we can’t wait to see the end result.

As the Greater London Authority explains:

“Almost a quarter of all journeys in the capital are made on foot – nearly 6 million trips every day – making up nearly a third of the total time Londoners spend travelling.

The Mayor’s Transport Strategy states that he wants to see the share of all journeys made on foot increase to 25 per cent by 2031 – an extra million journeys a day.”

Greater London Authority

So when we stumbled upon Walk Score our eyes lit up. Walk Score is a web service from the US that aims to promote and recognise walkable neighborhoods. Walk Score use a simple 100-point scale to give neighborhoods a walkabilitiy rating based on the nearby availability of grocery stores, schools and other everyday needs “allowing renters, relators, commnity activists and curious citizens to compare how pedestian-friendly a neighborhood is.”

You can visit the site here, put in your postcode and see what’s near you, how you can stroll there and,best of all, how walk friendly your area is. Maybe London boroughs could use the site to think of ways to become more walk friendly places? Or to compare and contrast where in London it’s easier to rely on your legs? Go on, give it a go! You might just get hooked.

How do you find walking around in the City? Do you think London is a easy place to get from A to B without using on cars or public transport? Get in touch and let us know – either leave a comment below, or send us a tweet over on @Go_London.

Over a coffee we chatted about what motivated him to enter the competition in the first place, the key benefits of cycling, the challenges of keeping active on a day to day basis (including coping with injuries!) and how through cycling he’s beggining to see at London in a completely new light.

You can catch the full interview here!

Want to find out more? You can follow all three of our cycle scholars Dan, Jo and Nicola over on twitter.

Do you walk, run, or cycle to work? We’d love to hear your experiences of the main benefits from an active routine and how you stay motivated (especially with the clocks going back!) You can get in touch by either tweeting us over on @Go_London, or by simply leaving a comment below.

Health Innovation Week took place in San Francisco earlier this month. It was an opportunity for people involved with the worlds of health provision and technology to come together to explore new possibilities and the future of health care.  The week covered a variety of topics on how technology such as social media platforms, smartphones, apps and the web in general can not only improve health care, but make it easier for citizens to get that little bit more active. A wide variety of sessions took place from personalised social care to motivating activity through to health code-a-thons.

It’s a great example of fresh thinking around keeping people active and healthy. During the Go London competition we saw lots of examples of new ways to use the web to improve Londoner’s health, from using your Oyster Card to track exercise, smartphone apps that let you know how many calories you’ve burned from missing that that 5 minute bus ride and websites that allowed you to find your perfect exercise buddy. One great example of using technology to get people moving was Go London finalist Splashpath from Dan Morgan, that enables you to use smartphone technology to find your nearest pools, as well as track your progress – it’ll even let you know when you’ve travelled the length of the Nile, or even the cities very own Thames!

Our winning idea Go 10,000 will also explore how the web can help people get involved in the challenge, and we hope that as increasing numbers of health projects and campaigns start up, people will think creatively about how technology can help motivate people to get moving and keep fit!

Do you use the your iPhone, social media, or the web in general to keep you motivated? Get in touch and share your story – and perhaps even inspire other Londoners! Either leave a comment below or tweet us over at @Go_London.

Nicola, Dan and Jo have dropped by every now and then to let us know how things are getting on – but we thought it was high time we had a proper chat now that they’re a few months in.

Here Nicola (who you can follow on twitter here!) let us pop into her office to share with us how the cycle scholarship has helped her get more active and changed her relationship with London as a City – and how she’s planning of staying motivated with the cold weather setting in!

Listen to the full interview here!

Look out for catch ups with the rest of the cycle scholar gang here soon.

Are you a new cyclist in the City? We’d love to hear your story.You can get in touch with us by leaving a comment below or sending us a tweet on @Go_London.

“I spent the afternoon with Jonathoan Muddell, the creative designer who works on the Change 4 Life campaign. The workshop began by discussing Jonathan’s work for Change 4 life, the use and value of different types of imagery and my vision for Go 10,000, spending time thinking about images and logos used by similar challenge based projects, walking initives and how Go 10,000 fits in with both the Go London brand and the inspire logo.

I felt it was really important to the values ingrained within my idea that the logo should be fun, demonstrate physical activity, teamwork and use inclusive imagery. It was a productive afternoon – and we have over ten logo ideas to choose from!”

Now it’s over to you. Help Danielle decide by telling her which of the logos from M&C Saatchi is your favourite? Please do leave a comment below, or contact us through twitter @Go_London.

Logo A

Logo B

Logo C

Logo D

Logo E

Logo F

Logo G

Logo H

Logo I

Logo J

With kind support from

Initially there were a few ups and downs. This was short-lived and I have been working with NHS London to turn my idea into a reality. Over the past few months I have attended the 2,012 by 2012 launch at the Emirates stadium where there were speeches from Mike Farrar, NHS Champion for Physical Activity, Dr Steven Boorman, and Olympians Jonathan Edwards and Stephen Parry amongst others. This was a truly inspiring event that I would not have attended was it not for being winner of this competition.

Danielle (far right) at thinkpublic workshop developing Go 10,000

Then there have been the prizes – fantastic workshops by Deloitte, thinkpublic and M&C Saatchi (keep an eye on this blog for the new Go 10,000 logo design from them!) which each time have helped shape the project in different, yet hugely influential ways in order to make Go 10,000 successful. I have definitely learnt a great deal from the process and it is swiftly becoming an apprenticeship of sorts. Thank you to all of those I have worked with, already your expertise has been so valuable.

This week key members of the project team and interested parties met with Professor Wendy Brown of 10,000 Steps in Australia. She shared her experiences of setting up this successful program in Australia, and we were able to complete a question and answer session. That morning I looked around the room and was hugely proud that my idea has brought me to this place where the key figures in physical activity and the health legacy were sat with me and my idea brought us all together. Yet another inspiring day!

So the next stage now is the first project meeting in October, and completing the Precedent workshop. Then getting the pilot up and running with Go 10,000 launched in 2011 The Year of Walking in London! It is all still incredibly exciting so watch this space for the next developments . . .”

If you’d like to continue to follow Danielle’s journey keep checking back here for developments – we’ll be announcing the launch of the Go 10,000 blog very soon. Want to help shape the project? Comment below or get in touch through twitter @Go_London.

To make sure we practice what we preach, we here at Go London decided to have a chat with a few NHS London staff about there own experiences when it comes to being active in day to day life as well as changes they’ve noticed in the City.

Changing culture and busy lives

Everyone knows that being active is a good thing – but it can be tricky to make the time in already busy lives to fit in a spot of exercise. Cerrie, who is an NHS London activity leader, enjoys exercise and slots being active into her daily rotuine. However she highlighted the importance of inspiring people who might at first be put off, and aiming to cater for all – especially with the dark nights and cold weather approaching! She mentioned the ongoing NHS Change 4 Life campaign, which encourages small positive steps to improve health and wellbeing, as well as more recently being aware of programmes particulary around cycling, such as the Boris Bikes, cycle superhighways and the London Sky Ride, all aiming to make people feel more confident on the roads.

Incentives and new initives

Jenny Shaw talked about the additional benefts besides fitness that should be promoted when it comes to exercise in the workplace – in particular the social element of keeping active with colleagues and even a little friendly competition here and there. She mentioned NHS London’s active market place that took place recently, which gave colleagues the opportunity to sign up to a wide range of activities from gentle morning yoga to miliatry style boot camps. Here some some groups, such as the walking club, offer a way for people to get to know each other a little better outside the office environment. Like Cerrie, Jenny is quite active but says she’s noticed more people out and about this summer, again particularly noticing the cycle hire scheme as well as people hopping of tubes a stop or two early to sqeeze some extra walking into their working day.

Do you feel your workplace advoactes the importance of taking the time to exercise? What is the incentive for you to get out and about? Please do let us know by leaving a comment below. Twitter your thing? You can tweet us @Go_London.

“London 2012 is relying on brilliant Games Makers to help us deliver a great Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Seb Coe, LOCOG Chair

London 2012 is less than two years away, and this week the application process for Games Makers officially opened- a naionwide call out for enthusiastic people who want to be part of the ‘greatest show on earth’. There are 31 ‘teams’ looking for Games Makers in a wide variety of roles- to help out in all areas, from torch relays to transport. Here Eddie Izzard (who is no stranger to a challenge, having completed 43 marathons in 51 days!) explains what being a Games Maker is all about in this short video:

As Eddie suggests London 2012 without Games Makers simply would not happen. London needs people from all walks of life, who will be able to take on ten days of hard (but once in a lifetime!) work, who have the same values and passions as the Olympics. Want to find out more? You can read all about what helping out with the Games involves on the Official Games Maker page. Completely convinced? You can apply over on the London 2012 site here.

If you fancy watching some of the games as well as helping out you can now register your interest in tickets here. Good luck!

Decided to apply? We would love to hear your story and why you’ve decided to go for it. Either leave a comment below or send us a tweet over on @Go_London.

So it was fantastic to see 85,000 Londoners join the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, four-time Olympic Champion Sir Chris Hoy and actress and model Kelly Brook in this year’s Sky Ride a few weekends ago. The event celebrated a traffic free day through the Capital’s streets, where those of all abilities (and confidence!) had the perfect opportunity to get out and about on their bikes.

Sir Chris Hoy summed up the success of the event:

“Seeing the Capital’s streets traffic-free with so many people enjoying a day out cycling together is a great experience for everybody. Getting the opportunity to cycle past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament was something extra special… The best part of these events is that it doesn’t matter if you’re a novice or a more experienced rider they have something for all ages and abilities. I’m hoping that everyone who took part will continue to cycle and enjoy all the fun and benefits it brings.”

Those inspired by the event can get involved in Sky Local rides which will run every Sunday until the end of October across the Capital, where riders are able to pick a level to suit their age and ability- as well as being led by fully trained cycle leaders from British Cycling.

Have these latest campaigns inspired you to start cycling? Have you given a Boris Bike a spin yet, or simply noticed more people cycling when out and about? We’d love to hear from you! Either leave a comment below or tweet us over at @Go_London on twitter.