Dundee Wellbeing Walk
About this Event
SWAN has been working with Walking Scotland to train our autistic volunteers to become Health Walk leaders and run local walking groups for autistic women and non-binary people.
The SWAN walks offer a supportive and inclusive environment for autistic women and non-binary people. Beyond improving physical wellbeing, these walks provide an opportunity for socialisation and peer support.
The walks will be around an hour long at an easy social pace and are perfect for anyone who would like to become more active in the company of other autistic people.
For our Dundee walk, we will be walking a different route each month, please see what walks we'll be doing each month, below:
- 8th August: Victoria Park
Descriptions of this months walk including their starting points can be found below.
Walk route description: August: Victoria Park
Meeting point: 1st Bench on the main path, on the right hand side as you face up the main drive. It is up from the triangular parking area that can be found at the entrance to the park at the corner of Balgay Road and Scott Street.
Walk Leader: Louise, she has short gray hair, she is short in height, she will normally be wearing sunglasses due to the light, she will have her bright orange ‘walk leader’ arm band on for the first 5-10 mins but it gets taken off after that. (It’s quite bright and noticeable). Once you come over, she will introduce herself and have a short conversation with you.
Dundee's Victoria Park:
Victoria park is a lovely area, situated just off Blackness Road and part of the larger Balgay and Lochee Park. Located on the highest point within the park you can also find the Mills Observatory. Victoria Park is very accessible from the Perth Road side of Dundee City Centre. Although a large park within its own right with tennis courts, big open grass areas and a play park, when walking along the paths it never feels too big. I think it is the impact of the trees, I just love them, I look up at them in awe of what it must have taken to grow for so long and to have existed for so long. Just fantastic. It is also connected to Balgay Cemetery at the far end, towards Ninewells hospital.
Buses can be taken to Blackness Road which borders the far side of Victoria Park, there is also car parking available at the triangular area adjacent to the entrance or on either of the bordering streets (Balgay Rd or Scott Street)
The walking route:
We will begin from the 1st bench on the main path, at a casual pace we will walk away from the parking area/ entrance to the park towards the bandstand, along the main drive. This is a tarmac’d path. We will then loop around the hill, under the bridge to find ourselves in the parking area for Lochee park. We will continue on this route as it runs alongside the hill and borders the edge of Lochee park. The route gradually goes uphill, this side has speed bumps at regular intervals. We will continue until we reach the Mills Observatory, don’t worry there is a bench just before the top and we will take our time. Once ready we can gradually make our way back down the other side, meeting the road/ path that we started on to return to the start position.
Safety Point:
This route is circular in nature and involves ascending and descending the hill to the observatory from different sides. The final proper seat before we head up is at the bandstand at the end of the main drive, towards Balgay cemetery.
Rest Areas:
There are benches at frequent intervals along the first side of the route/ hill and at the bandstand, but as we move to the other side of the hill, there are none. However, there are some large stones/ trees trunks that can be used for a lean. The next seat/ bench is not until we reach the top of the hill. As we descend there is one more bench before we get back to the same path we start on.
Who is this group for?
SWAN groups are safer spaces for autistic women and non-binary people over-18 who live, work or study in the local area.
SWAN is inclusive of all autistic women and non-binary people, including those who are exploring whether they are autistic, who self identify as autistic or are clinically diagnosed (private or NHS).
If these descriptions do not match you, we ask that you do not attend our groups unless they are specifically stated to be for non-autistic individuals. If you are a non-autistic person wishing to learn more about autism, visit our website for workshops and training: swanscotland.org/training
Accessibility
We aim to make our walks and groups as accessible as possible - they are led and designed by autisic people, in accessible venues.
If you have any medical conditions which might affect you when you are at a group, please let the facilitator know at the start of the group so they are aware of what to do should anything happen (e.g. epilepsy, diabetes, etc.).
If there is anything we can do to make the experience more accessible for you please do get in touch with us ahead of the meet up:
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 0.00
