A 93-YEAR-OLD walking enthusiast from Newport is supporting a campaign to get the nation back up on its feet – literally.

Marjorie Sims, from Beechwood, is leading the way in the final month of the Wales Pedometer Challenge, designed to get the Welsh population to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

Organised through Let’s Walk Cymru by Ramblers Cymru and sponsored by the Welsh Government’s Change4Life Wales and Communities First programme, the Pedometer Challenge aims to get people walking thousands more steps as part of their daily lives.

More than 1,000 people have so far clocked up more than 200 million steps on their pedometers, which is equal to more than 95,000 miles.

Now Change4Life Wales and Communities First are stepping up the challenge in its final weeks by distributing healthy bags containing pedometers to 5,000 people in all Communities First areas across Wales.

Ms Sims, who regularly joins friends for brisk walks around South Wales and further afield, urged others to follow her lead.

She is a member of the Well Being and Local Knowledge Newport group, which has become one of the largest walking groups in Wales with about 65 members and is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Ms Sims said: “I began walking almost 10 years ago, after I lost my husband. A member of my cardiac exercise group suggested it as a good way for me to get out and about.

“It provides me with both exercise and social benefits. I try to walk for 20 minutes each day and the weekly group walks are about 80 minutes. We regularly go further afield, walking in the Forest of Dean, Barry Island and West Wales to name a few.

“I’d encourage people of all ages to start walking more.”