Walk to School Month begins for Broomlands Primary School
Thursday, October 5 2006
October 2006 sees the launch of the first International Walk to School Month when several million children and their families around the world will be taking to their feet in an effort to reduce the number of cars on the daily school run.
The aim of International Walk to School Month is to raise awareness of the many positive health, safety and environmental benefits that can be gained from regular walking to and from school.
In the Scottish Borders, approximately 5,000 pupils from 31 schools across the region will be encouraged to walk to school, mainly during International Walk to School Week this week. Broomlands Primary School in Kelso, however, has signed up to promote walking for the month and agreed to trial some of the new supporting classroom resources.
To help Broomlands spread the Walk to School message and celebrate the launch of the new Walk to School brand, the campaign’s new mascot, Strider, will be visiting the school at the end of the month as part of a national tour of some of the participating schools.
Jenny Bagnall, Scottish Borders Council’s School Travel Co-ordinator, who is supporting schools in the region by providing resources for the week, said, “The response from schools has been great, and we are delighted that Strider, the national Walk to School mascot, will be visiting the Borders. I hope that parents will support the week and that more pupils will be encouraged to walk to school on a regular basis.”
Councillor Gordon Edgar, SBC Executive Spokesman for Technical Services, added, “The local response to this campaign is extremely positive. Encouraging more children to walk to school is an investment in their future. It is good for the environment, it is good exercise and children can gain essential road sense, which is lost if they are driven to school every day.”
Even if your child’s school is not participating in Walk to School Week, you can still support the campaign by walking to school anyway or arranging for your child to walk with another trusted person.
The Walk to School campaign is co-ordinated jointly by the National Travelwise Association (a partnership of local government authorities working to promote more sustainable modes of transport in the UK), and Living Streets (a major campaign of The Pedestrians Association).
International Walk to School was first held in 2000, following several successful individual walk to school promotional days and weeks in a number of countries, including UK, Canada and USA in late 1990’s.
For further information, please contact Jenny Bagnall, School Travel Co-ordinator, on 01835 824 000.
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