The seemingly simple act of going outdoors and walking has been transformative for former corporate sales specialist Evelyn Howe and now she has turned it into a business.

Daily walks in the forest after taking a career break to be a full-time mum helped her rethink her future work plans. The idea for what would become Stride Revive started to form.

The 45-year-old now combines working as a life coach with building her walking business and studying for the Peter Coates MSc in Entrepreneurship.

Stride Revive sets out to educate people about the healing benefits walking can have physically, emotionally and mentally.

Evelyn’s business has a number of strands including a WhatsApp group, organised walks and collaborations with local authorities and organisations such as the Staffordshire Moorlands Walking Festival.

“When I started talking to people about my plans and putting out polls I found that 40% of people don’t walk during the day when they’re at work and that many people don’t move away from their computer every few hours,” said Evelyn, from Stafford.

“It quickly became apparent that people don’t walk enough and that people feel lonely when they’re homeworking.

“So I started working on ways to gamify walking to make it fun to walk and started organising group walks including mindfulness walks.

“It’s all about connecting with nature, connecting with one another and looking after your own wellbeing.”

Evelyn has an undergraduate degree in Design Management from Staffordshire University and has worked as a client specialist for the likes of Vodafone and BT.

She added: “I’m trying to re-educate people and give them the tools to access the healing benefits of walking.”

Evelyn has entered the Alumni Business Person  of the Year, Skills For the Future and Business in the Community categories of the Staffordshire University Business Awards.