Welcome to 2026! Around this time of year, many of us are resolving to look after ourselves a bit better in the New Year - maybe walking more often or making better use of that gym membership, improving our diet, cutting back on or cutting out alcohol, or donating a little of our time towards a good cause.
If you're planning to make a few changes for the better, bravo and good luck! Maybe we can inspire you with some ideas for fulfilling those resolutions? There are so many ways our local green spaces can help you to improve your physical and mental wellbeing: read on for a few suggestions...
Walking
A few years ago, somebody came up with the ubiquitous 10,000 daily step target; many of us fall short by a couple of thousand, but in Rochester we're luckier than most with the amount of excellent walks available to us, which are not only beautiful, but also offer various degrees of challenge too! There are some great options for daily or twice-weekly walks where you can combine cardio exercise with the positive mental benefits of taking in beautiful architecture, river views and our lovely green spaces.
If you have a bit of time on your hands, you could set out on the Rochester Trail, a circular signposted walk from Rochester to Borstal and back taking in the area's rich heritage and beautiful natural spaces. You can find out more about the two Trail routes (one gentle, one a little more ambitious) on our Rochester Trail page.
Working Out
Pushing ourselves a bit harder and undertaking a programme of regular exercise is something many of us will resolve to do more of in 2026, but you don't necessarily need that expensive gym membership. You can give yourself a thorough work out just by making your way to the Esplanade Gardens! It is of course a wonderful spot for jogging, but did you know you can work on your strength as well as your heart health? A collection of fixed gym equipment, including bars, supports and a horse are available for use by all ages - you can find them near the Children's Play Area.
Play is also a great form of exercise: a regular kick-about in the Gardens with a ball is a fun way to burn a few calories, and of course, children can benefit greatly from some time in the Children's Play Area.
Gardening
Getting up close with nature can be a really fulfilling way to improve your wellbeing and create something beautiful. No garden? No problem! FoRCE volunteers get their hands dirty at least once a month, taking care of and improving the plants, flowers, trees, and hedgerows around Esplanade Gardens and Churchfields.
We restored the Suffrage Sensory Garden, dedicated to non-militant suffragist Vera Conway-Gordon who lived nearby, as our first major project, and taking care of the variety of plants that visitors can see, smell and touch is one of our regular and most popular (not to mention rewarding) volunteer activities.
Another big ongoing gardening project is our effort to plant new hedgerows around Esplanade Gardens, to form natural boundaries, prevent vandalism, and create natural habitats for native species of wildlife. When these have matured, we plan to begin laying them using centuries-old techniques, so now is a perfect time to get involved with this project and, in the future, learn a traditional skill.
So whether you are new to horticulture and would like to develop your capabilities with like-minded people, or an experienced gardener who can donate some of your expertise, we'd love for you to join us and enjoy the physical and mental wellbeing benefits that gardening provides. Also, if you're planning to improve your diet in 2026, maybe you can liven up a healthy but uninspiring meal with the use of some fresh herbs picked from the Sensory Garden; just make sure you carefully identify plants before cooking with them!
Litter Picking
An excellent way to combine exercise and community consciousness is to help out with collecting the litter which inevitably gathers around our green spaces and on the river foreshore. It's a really rewarding activity, and the difference you make can be enjoyed by all.
We tackle both of these areas regularly: cleaning up the gardens is a monthly activity, while our highly popular foreshore litter picks take place twice a year and always prove and interesting experience which feels wonderfully adventurous! All equipment is provided, and foreshore picking is marshalled and risk-assessed.
Green Social Prescribing
The potential wellbeing benefits of taking part in nature-based community activities is now recognised and recommended by healthcare professionals. A £5.77m cross-government Green Social Prescribing programme launched in 2021 "to test how to embed green social prescribing in mental health pathways and across integrated care systems to improve mental health and tackle health inequalities" and found that "there is strong and growing evidence that nature based social prescribing plays an important role in improving mental and physical health and reducing loneliness." You can find out more on the NHS England website.
FoRCE will be implementing a strategy in 2026 to reach out to GP surgeries, pharmacies and other healthcare service providers who may be looking for suitable groups to prescribe to, and we're looking for someone to help us put together our plan. Experience of working with the UK healthcare system would be desirable but not essential - if you have a passion for helping others to achieve greater wellbeing, we'd love to hear from you. Please
We hope we've given you a few ideas of how you can help your own physical and mental health, as well as help out your community, in the coming new year. If you've been inspired to come along to one of our volunteer activites, check out the dates below for all the information you'll need, and put it in your new 2026 diary. Gardening and Litter Picking around the Esplanade Gardens are activities we organise at every monthly volunteer session. If you have any questions, just
Looking for a Different Challenge?
It's not just exercise and beautiful surroundings that help us feel better about ourselves - maybe taking on a more regular commitment to helping protect and improve Rochester's green spaces could provide you with an exciting new challenge for 2026. FoRCE is looking to fill some vacancies on our committee and helper teams to take our efforts to the next level: why not take a look at our Vacancies page and see if one of these roles could be for you?
Finally, everyone here at FoRCE wishes you a Happy New Year, and the best of luck with your self-improvement endeavours throughout 2026 and beyond!