The Ramblers Association’s fifth annual attempt to get Britons off their backsides and on to their feet is approaching.

Welcome to Walking Week is the national festival to coax people into taking up walking. The association puts on lots of guided walks, mostly short ones, but with a few stretching to ten miles or so.

It’s a laudable aim to get the increasingly lardy population into what the RA says is the cheapest and healthiest pastime there is – they obviously haven’t checked out the price tags on the Goretex recently – and is backed by Gaby Roslin, but don’t let that put you off.

Many of the walks are family oriented and the organisation has teamed up with CLIC Sargent, a charity that supports children with cancer and in particular, something called Yummy Mummy Week. Great idea, but grough wishes those creative types with bow ties and large salaries would realise that just making two words rhyme doesn’t make the basis of a good campaign.

You don’t have to be member of the RA to join the walks, though most do need pre-booking. Check out the website for details of the Welcome to Walking Week, which starts on 16 September. Discount membership of the association will be available to those taking part in the walks.