Residents urged to walk or cycle a Mile for your Mind, this Clean Air Day

Suffolk County Council and partners are encouraging people to walk or cycle one mile, to mark national Clean Air Day on Thursday 15 June.
Published: 14 Jun 2023

This year’s theme is ‘Clean up our air to look after your mind’, which highlights the link between pollution and mental health.

Research, published by Global Action Plan, shows that there is an association between air pollution and conditions including schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and mood disorders. Air pollution can also lead to a more rapid decline in cognitive function including an increased risk of developing dementia.

For this year’s Clean Air Day, Suffolk County Council is inviting people from across Suffolk to take part in a ‘Mile for my mind’ walk and cycle at 12noon. To take part, residents can set off from anywhere in Suffolk and tag Suffolk County Council (@SuffolkCC) in their photos using the hashtags: #CleanAirDaySuffolk and #AMileForMyMind. For anyone that can’t take part at 12noon, the 1 mile can be done anytime on Clean Air Day.

On average 7% of car journeys are 1 mile or less, which for many people can be walked or cycled in under 20 minutes. If every car journey in Suffolk under 1 mile was walked or cycled, it would result in over 15 million fewer car journeys per year and over 40,000 car journeys per day. For Clean Air Day we are encouraging people to break the habit of driving short journeys, and supporting people to see how easy, cheap and enjoyable making the journey on foot or wheels can be. Swapping short journeys by vehicle to more active modes of travel can protect both your physical and mental health from the effects of pollution.
Councillor Paul West, Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet Member for Ipswich, Operational Highways and Flooding
Councillor Paul West, Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet Member for Ipswich, Operational Highways and Flooding

A mile for my mind is supported by organisations and groups across Suffolk including Ipswich Borough, Babergh and Mid Suffolk, East Suffolk and West Suffolk Councils along with the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board, Suffolk Mind, Talk Club Ipswich, Bury Eco Carriers, Future Female Society.

Last night (Tuesday 13 June) Mental Health Charity Talk Club, led a 1 mile walk from Ipswich Town football stadium to launch the Clean Air Day activities taking place across Suffolk this week.

What do Clean Air and Mental Health have in common? Not only do they benefit each other…we take them both for granted, at least I know I have! At Talk Club, we use the term ‘mental fitness’ to describe the exercise we believe is essential to maintaining good mental health - just like we know going to the gym, or playing 5 aside with mates every week is good for our physical health - creating a safe space where men feel comfortable to share how they’re feeling out of 10 and why, that has the same impact on our minds. And if you can combine with exercise, even better, like this walk & talk. We all have the right to a healthy mind, like we do clean air. Let’s not take them for granted.
Joe Thomson, Ipswich Talk Club Captain and volunteer
five people walking through a field
Joe Thompson, Ipswich Talk Club Captain and volunteer (one from the left) and attendees at the Talk Club ‘Mile for My Mind Walk’ on Tuesday 13 June.

The Clean Air Day activity marks the start of a programme of air quality engagement work planned for 2023 with officers from Suffolk County Council attending events across the County to speak to people about air pollution and its impact on health, including the Indian Summer Mela on 1 July, Ipswich Music Day on 2 July, Global Rhythms on 8 July and the Multicultural Festival on 23 July.

The council has also just launched its Air Quality Strategy, which has been developed in partnership between Suffolk County Council’s Public Health and Communities directorate and the Growth, Highways and Infrastructure directorate, with contributions from district and borough councils, NHS and the University of Suffolk. The strategy sets out actions identified as being important to the improvement of air quality, along with who is the lead authority for the work, timescales, and what will be achieved. The strategy can be viewed at: www.suffolk.gov.uk/airquality

To find more information about Clean Air Day activity across Suffolk, visit: www.suffolk.gov.uk/airquality