Naked Heart Walk

The heart is a powerful icon. Providing us with the fundamental rhythm of life, it is a basic marker of our health and as a single point of failure, reminds us of the fragility of our lives, hopes and dreams. Philip Baker of East Sussex Naturists and a survivor of heart disease, writes about the Naked Heart walk, how it came to fruition and the funds it has raised. For all you local naturists – and those who maybe want to try something new and simultaneously make a positive difference to the British Heart Foundation.

It was my dream a few years ago to draw together my three separated lives: a life limited by an irregular heart beat diagnosed at the age of 38, but restrictive much of my life; a love of feeling the sun on skin in nature and its power to leave my worries and stress with my clothes for a few minutes or hours; and my ‘normal’ life commuting to my city job along with my responsibilities to my relations and others.

The heart stands not only for life and health, but also many human qualities such as empathy, intuition, friendship, love, and other qualities that naturists also believe are developed by a tolerance of others, an openness to nature, the outdoors and the life-giving sun. Described in the 18^th and 19^th centuries by people like Benjamin Franklin and Walt Whitman, exposing the skin to the sun and air was shown to be beneficial to health. Naturists also believe in the power of social nudity to boost the self and relate to others.

When I was born, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) did not exist. Heart transplants were still a dream and stents, bypass surgery, pacemakers and defibrillators, so common today, were not yet invented. Medical breakthroughs don’t just happen. Driven by love, donations and awe-inspiring science, we make them happen together. The British Heart Foundation is the biggest independent funder of heart and circulatory research in the UK, funding around £100 million worth of research projects every year. Details of the research they support can be found here https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/our-research

In the 21^st century in the UK, 460 people die every day from heart disease. That’s over 160,000 people a year. 260 people are admitted to hospital due to a heart attack. There are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year. The overall survival rate in the UK is less than 1 in 10.  But the good news is that since 1961, when the BHF began funding research, the UK death rate from heart and circulatory diseases has declined by more than three quarters. Progress has been tremendous – for instance before the BHF existed, the majority of babies diagnosed with a severe heart defect in the UK did not survive to their first birthday. Today, thanks to research, more than 8 out of 10 survive to adulthood. This link lists many other areas that have benefited from world class research https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/our-research/research-successes

From being able to ameliorate the effects of heart disease, current research is also moving us closer to our goal of unlocking ways to repair the damage caused by a heart attack. https://www.bhf.org.uk/research-projects/bhf-centre-of-regenerative-medicine-renewal-teaching-the-heart-to-repair-itself

My own life has been tremendously improved by three heart operations over 12 years ago giving me a near normal life. But also by my love of naturism that helps me manage stress and provide much needed social interaction that Covid has taught us that we need to flourish and remain healthy.

The BHF has supported my idea of naked fund raising beyond expectation and the Naked Heart Walks we christened in 2019 have proved to be fantastically successful. The basic idea is not that special – after all it’s just a walk in the park, but there were and are some challenges to overcome and we must still be segregated from the public.

Many more people took up naturism during Covid and the latest poll, commissioned by British Naturism, shows the vast majority in the UK are tolerant and unfazed by meeting the odd naked person or a World Naked Bike Ride crowd.

The key ideas enshrined in the Naked Heart Walk are:

• To raise money for heart research and to support the activities of the BHF – all monies above the cost of putting on the event and third-party ticketing costs are donated to the BHF.
• To provide a safe and private event for the enjoyment of all participants, but particularly to allow anyone to take on the challenge of being naked ‘in public’ and find out first hand why people are naturists. Even if first timers don’t become hooked, we hope we are creating understanding and tolerance.
• Private space to practise naturism is constantly being eroded by commercial pressures, so naturists have little choice but to join events like ours or carefully utilise public spaces such as footpaths and beaches. There is, of course, no impediment to using your own back garden.
• Even for those unwilling or unable to take part, the fact that such events take place, are well attended and raise thousands of pounds, we hope makes naturism seem just an everyday pursuit – as indeed it is. A few threads of fabric more or less can surely make no difference?

The first Naked Heart Walk was two years in the making due to Covid. Eighty people came from as far afield as Cornwall, South Wales, Lancashire and Yorkshire to Painshill in Surrey and raised a truly fantastic £26,000. To create the advertising poster, some dedicated naturists came similar distances to walk naked one chilly and cloudy November morning. The public in the park that day were all amazed at our hardiness and expressed support for our event. We owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to the volunteers who made it happen and to our BHF manager, who took the plunge on the day and walked with us, saying that she would never get the chance again.

For 2023, the members of East Sussex Naturists who are also BHF volunteers and members of British Naturism, are organising their third annual Naked Heart Walk. This year, we have been invited by Leonardslee Gardens to organise our event in their 200 acre Grade I listed, spectacular and ancient gardens, which are widely reputed to be amongst the very finest in England.

Amber Millard, Events Coordinator at Leonardslee, has been most welcoming to us and our unique take on a charity walk. Both the hosts and the BHF recognise the fact that there has been an upsurge in interest in naturism as a leisure pursuit that encourages people to get outdoors, where every body can take part and boost their physical and mental well-being and all in a great cause.

All the Naked Heart Walks across the country can be found at https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/naked-heart-walks-340349 . They are all designated as clothes-optional for 2023, so shy partners can take part too. But our hope is that they will be curious and perhaps tempted to experience the benefits and sensations that being without clothes brings to the ordinary and everyday. Our memories are particularly good at remembering novel experiences. The good news is that everything done naked is a new and novel experience! Best of all your heart will be benefiting in so many ways.

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