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Take A Stroll To School This Week!
May 2008
As part of National Walk to School Week (19th – 23rd May), Care4Air and The People’s Movement are encouraging children and their parents to travel to and from the school gates in an environmentally friendly way.
Walking is a great way to reduce transport emissions and improve health and fitness, and both campaigns are urging people across the region to consider alternative ways to get from a to b.
Care4Air, South Yorkshire’s air quality awareness campaign, is highlighting the week to remind people that walking not only helps the environment but it’s also fun, easy to do and good for your health. The People’s Movement, Sheffield’s physical activity campaign, supports the week in a bid to get more people on the move and taking part in more physical activity.
Many schools now provide a ‘Walking Bus’ to ensure children can walk to school safely, and it’s also a fun and healthy way to travel. A supervising adult acts as the driver, leading the walk, and another walks behind the children, acting as conductor to ensure children are kept together and can walk safely.
By walking in a group, children are visible, wearing high-viz jackets, and are seen safely into school by adults. It also gives children the chance to learn pedestrian and road safety skills whilst providing opportunity to socialise prior to their busy day at school.
For more information on ‘Walking Buses’ in the region, please visit www.care4air.org and click on ‘Green Transport’.
Mark Daly, spokesperson for Care4Air, said: “Walk to School Week presents an excellent opportunity to get more young people to understand a bit more about air quality and what they can do to help improve it. Also, the aim is that if people try walking, then they might enjoy it and decide they want to walk more regularly.”
Diana Radford, Activity Sheffield Development Manager and spokesperson for The People’s Movement, said: “It is important we encourage physical activity from an early age and walking is a great way of doing that. Walking is free, easy and fun, by supporting young people who are happy to walk, this will hopefully encourage their parents to walk with them!”