Joggers bouncing off the pavement, laughter, and friendly conversations have become familiar sounds within the Cessnock area.
Each week, a growing number of residents are meeting to participate in physical activity and build social connections.
Walking groups are just one of the initiatives provided by Coalfields Healthy Heartbeat – a Samaritans-led program.
Project Coordinator Nicole Tickner says it offers many benefits to the local community.
“Our aim is to support the Cessnock Local Government Area with healthy eating, physical activity, and smoking cessation programs,” she says.
“As part of my role, I’m the local coordinator for the Heart Foundation Walking Groups.
“We have quite a few morning groups going now. There’s one group on a Wednesday, another on a Thursday, and we’ve started a new group that is run by volunteers.
“We’ve also just started a First Nations women’s walking group to provide them with an opportunity to get active and to access heart health information and other support.”
For Nicole, physical activity and healthy lifestyle choices are the key to overall wellbeing.
“It’s something that I’m very passionate about,” she says.
“Since doing this job, it’s been really heartwarming to see the progress in the walkers and other participants – in all areas of their lives.”
Heart Week, a national awareness campaign that takes place each May, is an opportunity to engage new walkers, provide heart health resources, and encourage the community to start a conversation about heart health.
“A lot of my work is about prevention and making healthy lifestyle choices, but early detection is really important too,” Nicole adds.
“A lot of us think we’re too young to worry about getting our heart health checked. But you’re eligible from 45 to get a check – younger if you are First Nations or if you’ve got diabetes.
“It’s something people think is for the older generation but it’s definitely worth getting on to earlier.”
Apart from walking groups, Coalfields Healthy Heartbeat offers support in a number of other ways.
There are cooking classes that aim to build knowledge and skills so participants can adopt healthy lifestyles, a Healthy Budget Bites cookbook, a walking trails guide around Cessnock, and monthly group sessions with families at Kurri Kurri Supported Playgroup.
The program has also visited local high schools to help improve wellbeing and students’ ability to make healthy decisions.
Coalfields Healthy Heartbeat is funded by the Hunter New England Local Health District.
You can learn more here.