Can you take daily exercise further afield if there are quite serious mental health issues?

[5nugBug]

In the middle lock down they said you could.

I wouldn’t risk it. Did you see the girls who were fined £200 for driving 9 miles. (I think they may have crossed country lines?) Last lockdown I managed to find local beauty spots close to home that I’d never heard of. Is there anything like that where you live? I know being in nature is always good for my mental health.

Not a criticism, but why does poor mental health mean you need to go further afield? How far do you mean as well by further afield?

My dd is under CAMHs and on medication. Daily exercise is crucial. Previous suicidal thoughts snd keeps depression at bay.She will not walk locally from our house incase she sees anybody she knows. By local I mean a 10/15 min car journey. Getting cautioned or worse would be disastrous.

It's really weird that you can't, I have always taken my dogs a ten min drive to walk in big woods where I won't see anyone, one of the dogs is reactive. Now I darent and I'm stuck walking in the rammed park which is surely much less safe from the amount of people about and the dogs aren't getting proper exercise. I love my long walks in the woods they keep me sane and help me unwind. Without them I am struggling. Not on the same level as your daughter but I would be interested to see what the justifications against this are.

I would say this was perfectly reasonable but there seems to have been massive overreach by the police this time around.

I think a huge dose of common sense needs to overrule the guidance now and again to ensure people actually survive this in other ways. Just do it!

We drive 15 mins and will continue to do so. It’s safest for everyone.

Is there any identification I can get?

In England you don’t need any reason to exercise further afield

Thesis no legal restriction on the frequency or duration of exercise nor can you be prevented from travelling to exercise

I think I would go by how likely it is you will meet police. If the place you go is, or is near, a beauty spot so police might be trying to prevent gathering there I would avoid it because it sounds like your dd would be upset by being stopped even if police were nice and polite and didn’t fine you. However if you are going via a minor road to somewhere deserted you should be fine. I have a son with asd traits who loves walking so I have been making the same calculation. Yesterday Dh and I drove a few miles for a walk because it would be less icy and crowded than the pavements round here but it wasn’t anywhere police were likely to be. We avoided anywhere walkers tend to congregate.

Is that definite, thinking of those ladies on the news.I don’t want to be all over Facebook.😩

The law says you can. Local police stopping you might be traumatic for your daughter though.

We are in the exact same position as you. My daughter attempted suicide in the last lockdown and spent weeks in hospital.

Trying to avoid the same thing happening again despite all her CAMHS support and schooling having been removed (they now won’t come to the house but she can’t go to a public building due to ptsd).

She won’t walk from home as we live in a small village and I really want to put her in the car and drive down to the next beach or onto the moor. But being stopped by the police could be so traumatic for her it could trigger a downward spiral or mean she won’t leave the house again for months.

I don’t trust the police at all.

We’re in a touristy area!

Orange snap!

@AlecTrevelyan006

In England you don’t need any reason to exercise further afield

Thesis no legal restriction on the frequency or duration of exercise nor can you be prevented from travelling to exercise

Exactly this. All this propaganda being perpetuated by the media and police state nonsense is just a load of crap. I can't wait to see how many fines are thrown out because even the police don't know what's law and what's guidance.

Sympathy for you all with this problem. I’d carry some proof of address to show you haven’t come too far.

I was surprised yesterday that the police wete not at the end of our road stopping people heading to the coast as they were last lockdown.

It turned out that they were instead on the road up yo the forestry, turning families away who were going up there to sledge. Apparently that is not exercise.

I think / hope the police response will settle down and / or more explicit guidance will be issued about permitted distances, what counts as exercise etc.

Meanwhile, I think your case sounds completely fine and I would certainly travel that short distance.

Take a diagnosis letter with you as a precaution. You will then have some proof of your daughter's condition that you can show. Also, something with your address on it to show you have come from 15 minutes away instead being a tourist. If you explain the situation to any police who question you, like you have done to us, your actions look reasonable. Police deal with suicides and attempts. They want to avoid them happening as much as we do.

@Hollysbush you don't need to carry proof of address, it's already right there on your registration plate.

I would discuss with Camhs team and ask that they do a letter of support

There is no legislation which restricts the distance you travel. Breaking the spirit of lockdown is not an offence. The Police hugely overstepped their remit in the reservoir incident, and this was a single highly published scare tactic. I've driven over 500 miles this week across the SE of England (for work) and not seen a single check.

I’d travel as short a distance as possible with proof of her illness and your home address, and be prepared that if your local police are being zealous about the definition of “local area”, they might turn you round or tell you to go home, and if they did, I’d comply.

I’m guessing the 10 min drive will take you out of the “village, town or part of a city that you live in” guidance?

Good idea to carry papers.

OP I think I will take copies of my daughter’s DLA letter, most recent psychiatrist report, and her EHCP.

Ridiculous and a little frightening that we have to do this. But could avoid an unpleasant ambushing from police.

Could you do the same?

Where is the ‘village, town or city’ guidance on distance to be found?

I mean we have to travel 10 miles to a supermarket so that takes us well out of our village.

I think the two Derbyshire women have had their fines revoked. Hopefully the police will dial it back a bit.

I think you should absolutely do this, as basic common sense and care for your daughter in a time when the services she needs are almost impossible to access. Huge sympathy on having such a heavy additional burden to bear in a time when everyone is finding it hard enough to cope.

We live in a small town and decided to stick to the rules yesterday and walk from the door. The only places to walk are riverside or canal here, so we went to the canal which was rammed with people, families with toddlers and pushchairs and dogs (all the dogs fighting each other and causing knots of different groups trying to sort them out) and, in the midst of all that, runners steaming along the towpath, forcing everyone else to try to get out of the way as they huffed out the contents of their lungs into the frozen air. It felt really unsafe and I certainly won't be doing that again, so it's either a 10 minute drive or staying at home without exercise until bloody March.

Really hope your dd gets through this. It's so relentlessly awful for young people who are struggling.