Moving More

At Farnham Road Medical Group, we understand that not everyone can be as active as they might like to be and we’re trying to help.

Council Survey (closes soon)

If you don’t currently use the town’s leisure centres, you could fill in the Slough Borough Council survey to help improve access.

What we’re doing

We support the activity and exercise classes in the Wellbeing Hubs at the Britwell Centre and Wexham Court Parish Hall through SPINE PCN in partnership with Oasis and Viva Slough.

We’re working with Get Berkshire Active and Sport England to improve access to physical activity for our patients. We have started in Britwell at the Avenue Medical Centre but we will be expanding this across our practice sites in Slough.

Part of this is working towards becoming a Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Active Practice.

What we are trying to do

We want to help people sit less and move more.

For our staff, we are:

Helping staff spend less time sitting, by using sit‑stand desks and standing/walking meetings
Helping staff be more active, by taking part in step challenges and gently nudging each other to move a little more

For our patients, we are:

Helping patients spend less time sitting
Providing standing areas in our waiting rooms
Sharing information in the waiting room about easy ways to move more

We also work with local groups to help people be active. These include parkrun at Black Park and Upton Court, and Everyone Active in Slough, who run local activities for people of all ages.

Being active helps keep our bodies and minds healthy.

Why does this matter?

Moving more can help stop many long‑term illnesses, like heart disease and diabetes, before they start. Mental health also benefits from moving more and regular activity can help people with depression and stress.

In the UK, lots of people do not move enough. About 1 in 3 men and almost 1 in 2 women are not active enough to stay healthy. Being inactive causes around 1 in every 6 deaths in the UK. Many long‑term health problems could be avoided if people moved more.

If you do less than 30 minutes of moderately intense activity a week, such as walking, you are considered “inactive”. This means that about 1 in 4 people are classed as inactive. Around 1 in 3 children also do much less activity than they should for their age.

People who do very little activity are more likely to become unwell. When they get ill, they often move even less, which makes things worse. The good news is that people who move the least have the most to gain from moving a bit more.

For children and young people, being active helps with mental health, mood, and confidence. It also helps children who already have health conditions feel better.

Being inactive costs the NHS a lot of money every year. Even though being active is very important, people are moving less now than in the past, and this could get worse in the future.

The message is clear: moving more helps everyone, no matter your age or health. The benefits are much bigger than the risks, and even small amounts of movement can make a big difference.

Visit our Get ‘Appy page for more details of recommended health and wellbeing Apps

Would you like to take part?

We have a short survey to better understand how we might help you be more active

Take the Survey

Step Challenges

We’ve found that this is a good way to encourage each other to do a little bit more moving.

It’s a no cost (FREE) activity tracking for those with a modern mobile (smart) phone. You don’t need a smart watch or separate fitness tracker but remember to take your phone with you and put it in a pocket to track your steps. If you do have fitness tracker or smartwatch, you can add them to the app.

STEP UP

Download the Step Up app from the Appstore
Sign in and enable step tracking
Allow StepUp to access your physical activity
(Optional) – if you have a smart watch or other tracking, you can link it for greater accuracy.

CHALLENGES

Sign up to the One Million Steps group for everyone in Slough
See how you’re getting on and encourage friends
You can also challenge us and keep Avenue Medical Centre (AMC) moving towards a fitter 2026.

The free StepUp App is available from your app store (Apple or Google Playstore). Instructions are at this link

Once you’ve installed the StepUp App – scan this QR code to join the Viva Slough One Million Steps Challenge

If you feel like challenging Avenue Medical Centre, scan the AMC Challenge QR code and keep us moving more

Parkwalk

If you enjoy the walking/step challenge, you might consider a parkwalk or parkrun

parkwalk is walking at parkrun. You walk the same 5 km route as the runners, starting together, at your own pace. It’s free, friendly, and open to everyone. There’s no pressure to run, no time limit, and a volunteer always walks at the back so you’re guaranteed to not finish last. It’s an easy, welcoming way to be more active.

Parkrun

parkrun is free.

parkrun is 5k at 9am Saturday morning.

junior parkrun is a 2k run, for those 4-14 year old and their families, on Sunday morning at 9am.

The most important thing to know about parkrun is that it genuinely isn’t all about running. Many start with a walk and gradually build up to doing more activity and maybe think about running some day…

But it’s a way to have a regular activity in your diary and get out and about, meet new people and be encouraged about taking on a new challenge. You are guaranteed to not finish last and there is no time limit. Everyone is welcome.

Join us at parkrun