Sophie Brown loves the countryside and wanted to make it easier for other women of colour to enjoy it, too. So she founded a walking group that gives black women an opportunity to spend time in the great outdoors <\/p>\n\n
Words: Jo Caird | Photos: Dave Caudery<\/p>\n\n
Started by Sophie Brown in April 2021, Steppin\u2019 Sistas organises regular group walks into the countryside around Bristol and in the south-west, empowering women of colour to explore unfamiliar rural spaces <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Black History Month <\/strong><\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Celebrate black history this month and watch the Black History Collection of documentaries on streaming service BBC Select. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n
It\u2019s a perfect July afternoon and the sun is blazing down on the Bristol Steppin\u2019 Sistas as they make their way along a circular route outside Pensford, a pretty village on the River Chew. Laughter and chitchat fill the air as the group \u2013 12 women of colour, most of whom are in their 50s \u2013 passes under the magnificent arches of Pensford Viaduct (\u201cvery <\/span>Harry Potter\u201d, <\/em>observes one walker, with a chuckle) and out into fields.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
\u201cThis is already boosting my happy hormones,\u201d Adelaide tells me as we follow the path close to the river, its reed-lined banks attracting all manner of buzzing creatures. \u201cYou don\u2019t think about your life and your issues. You just have a laugh and hear each other\u2019s stories.\u201d The Sistas split into smaller groups as they stroll, twosomes and threesomes catching up since the last time they walked together, or getting acquainted for the first time. <\/p>\n\n
It\u2019s Angela\u2019s first excursion with the group, a chance to break in the splendid pink-and-grey walking boots she bought herself for Christmas as an incentive to return to walking, a hobby she took up during the Covid-19 lockdowns but has since let slide. \u201cI thought this would be a great way to trigger things and get me back into doing lots of walking,\u201d she says, stopping to tie a bootlace. \u201cI liked the thought of finding little nooks and crannies inside of Bristol and the surrounding area.\u201d That\u2019s been Donna\u2019s experience, she tells me, as we walk down a steep hill across a hay field. \u201cThe group has enabled me to go to places I would never have gone,\u201d she says, clumps of sweet-smelling hay catching on her trainers as she walks. \u201cPensford is just outside of Bristol but I wouldn\u2019t have known about it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n
The British countryside, you see, has something of an access problem. While 69% of white adults visit nature at least once a week, according to the Government\u2019s Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment (MENE) survey, the figure for black and minority ethnic (BME) adults is just 42%. It\u2019s worse still for Asian adults, at 38%. Given that time spent in nature correlates strongly with good health and happiness, thanks to the physical and mental health benefits of fresh air, exercise and exposure to wildlife, inequality of access represents a major challenge for society. Particularly when one considers that a larger proportion of the black population is overweight or obese \u2013 and therefore more vulnerable to other health challenges \u2013 than other ethnic groups. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cFor many ethnic minority people, the countryside simply isn\u2019t a very welcoming place\u201d <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
Joining an organised walk takes away any fears over negotiating an unfamiliar route<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
Sophie Brown (front and centre, in mint-green T-shirt and red rucksack) founded the group in 2021 to provide fun and companionship these households living in poverty compared to 19% of white families, according to the Social Metrics Commission. There\u2019s transport: public transport provision in rural areas is patchy, at best, and people from ethnic minorities are less likely than white people to live in a household with access to a car. Then there\u2019s the high cost of specialist outdoor clothing and gear. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
The reasons for the disparity of access to nature are multiple and complex. Easiest to delineate are the physical barriers, which are tied to the fact that incidence of poverty is much higher for BME families, with 46% of Less straightforward but no less critical are the cultural barriers, which can depend on the <\/span>demographic make-up and ingrained attitudes of a particular area, the specifics of a person\u2019s heritage and upbringing, and their previous experiences of visiting the countryside. For many visible ethnic minority (VEM) people, the British countryside simply isn\u2019t a very welcoming place. As Sophie Brown, who founded Bristol Steppin\u2019 Sistas in April 2021 out of a desire to create a space of connection for black women walkers in Bristol, puts it: \u201cThere are places where we\u2019re reluctant to go, where we feel uncomfortable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n
She and other members of the group tell me about being verbally abused, denied entry to pubs and generally treated with coldness. Fear of dogs is common in many VEM communities, so the presence of unleashed animals in green spaces can also be off-putting. A question like, \u201cAre you lost?\u201d might seem superficially harmless, but comments like this can have an exclusionary effect, even if well intentioned. It\u2019s not that all interactions with rural people are negative, the Sistas say \u2013 probably only around half, or maybe less. The trouble is that you just never know what you\u2019re going to get. \u201cWalking with my white friends is a very different experience,\u201d explains Di. \u201cThey are completely comfortable. There aren\u2019t any issues and you see the privilege.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
Many of the group\u2019s members say walking in the countryside with others has improved both their physical and mental wellbeing<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
CAMARADERIE TRUMPS BIGOTRY <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
Walking with the Steppin\u2019 Sistas doesn\u2019t offer immunity from discrimination \u2013 it\u2019s just that the camaraderie of the experience trumps any negativity that can take place. As Di says, shortly before cooling herself down on this sweltering day with a spot of wild swimming in the River Chew: \u201cWe\u2019re there to enjoy the countryside and we generate good energy. And hopefully we change a few attitudes when we\u2019re smiling, chatting, having a lovely time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n
CREATING CHANGE <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
The Steppin\u2019 Sistas is part of a wave of walking groups that have sprung up all over the country in the past few years with the express intention of getting VEM people out enjoying the British countryside. \u201cWhen I first moved to Bristol, women of colour were probably walking, but I didn\u2019t see any,\u201d says Sophie. \u201cThat was a big question everywhere I went: why do I not see any other black women?\u201d <\/p>\n\n
Ornithologist Mya-Rose Craig \u2013 who started her popular \u2018Birdgirl\u2019 blog aged 11 \u2013 had a similar experience when she organised a birding camp in 2015. \u201cI noticed that the only people who had signed up for it were white middle-class boys,\u201d she says. Mya-Rose, who is of dual British-Bangladeshi heritage, took it upon herself to diversify the camp, using word of mouth and VEM community networks in Bristol to bring kids out of the city and \u201cshow them the outdoors\u201d. Fighting against the false and pernicious idea that \u201cthere are just certain types of people who can\u2019t be engaged in the outdoors\u201d, she then used her platform to start a conversation about access with nature organisations across the UK, a conversation that is still going on today. <\/p>\n\n
Despite being just 14, Mya-Rose then founded Black2Nature, an organisation that runs nature camps for VEM young people and campaigns for equal access to the countryside. For Mya-Rose, access to the countryside isn\u2019t just about \u201ctackling mental health issues and fighting discrimination\u201d, though those are important elements of her work. It\u2019s also a means of engaging people in environmental issues. \u201cWhy should people care about these things if they have never even experienced nature or the outdoors? Biodiversity loss means nothing to someone who has never experienced biodiversity,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
Glimpse impressive Pensford Viaduct beyond the roofs of the village, just seven miles south of Bristol<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
The Sistas cool weary feet in the River Chew <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
REPRESENTATION MATTERS <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
Groups such as Steppin\u2019 Sistas and Black2Nature are doing great work in facilitating access to the countryside at grassroots level, but it\u2019s important the fight isn\u2019t left to VEM-led organisations alone. Inequality is a national challenge and it\u2019s therefore down to our national rural institutions to step up. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe need to be creating environments for everyone,\u201d says Eric Heath, a senior project manager at the WWT. \u201cWe should be making them as welcome as possible, and organisations need to be looking at themselves and who they are appointing, how they\u2019re run and how they are presenting themselves to the world. Because representation matters.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
Tiger de Souza, people engagement director at the National Trust (NT), agrees. Having VEM people front and centre in marketing materials \u2013 one of a number of initiatives designed to make NT sites more welcoming to a broader range of people \u2013 not only encourages these groups to get into nature themselves. It also \u201cstarts to normalise for us, as a whole society, that you should expect to see people of colour enjoying the outdoors.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
Adelaide, who was \u201csearching for something to identify with\u201d when she came across Steppin\u2019 Sistas two months ago, believes the group has a positive influence on the world around it. \u201cIt inspires people. They see the connectivity and might be like, \u2018Ooh, shall I join?\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
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Jo Caird <\/strong>is a freelance journalist based between London and the Suffolk coast. She writes for magazines, national newspapers and websites, specialising in wildlife and lifestyle stories with a strong community focus. jocaird.com<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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