BackWalking to school now more critical than ever
The number of primary school children walking to school in Britain fell to less than 50 per cent in 2008 according to the latest statisics from ONS.
Tony Armstrong, Chief Executive of Living Streets which runs the national Walk to School campaign said:
“The publication of the new statistics on walk to school levels showing a dip below 50% for the first time, is a wake up call to government, local councils and parents that getting our kids active needs to be a much higher priority.
“Walking to school is one of the cheapest, greenest and easiest things for parents and children to do to improve their health and wellbeing. Although average distances to school have increased, the vast majority of pupils still live within a 20 minute walk of their school, but many are still being ferried around by car. We need to take action now to make children more physically active, to prevent storing up health problems later in life.
“The tools to get our children walking again are already there. Schools that have adopted our successful WoW (Walk Once a Week) scheme report levels of walking at 59% on average, significantly higher than the national trend. Every school and every local council needs to invest in cost effective schemes such as this to get our children out enjoying our streets, being healthy and active. Every parent and school should also rediscover how easy walking is, by taking part in national Walk to School week, which runs from 17-21 May- give walking a go!”
Notes to editors
The evaluation of the WoW scheme was carried out by Wavehill Consulting, 2009
WoW is part of Living Streets’ Walk to School campaign which is supported by the Department for Transport, Transport for London, ACTravelwise and Modeshift, and delivered in partnership with local organisers throughout England.
WoW stands for ‘walk once a week’. It is a simple scheme for use in primary schools: participating children walk to and/or from school at least once a week and if they meet their target the child is rewarded with a collectable metal badge. There are 11 badges to collect – one for each month of the academic year, and the badges are designed by children themselves.
You can view the WoW resources, including the badges, wallcharts, postcards, trophies, banners, t-shirts etc, on our website: www.walktoschool.org.uk. There is an order form to download to purchase resources. WoW resources are available to order at certain periods throughout the year; summer term resources will be available to order in January. For further information on getting involved, visit the website. Living Streets also offer walk to school week and walk to school month resources to support promotion of walking to school. These can also be found on our website.
Living Streets, celebrating its 80th birthday this year, is the national charity that stands up for pedestrians. With our supporters we work to create safe, attractive and enjoyable streets, where people want to walk.
We have been the national voice for pedestrians throughout our 80 year history. In the early years, our campaigning led to the introduction of the driving test, pedestrian crossings and 30mph speed limits. Since then our ambition has grown. Today we influence decision makers nationally and locally, run successful projects to encourage people to walk, and provide specialist consultancy services to help reduce congestion and carbon emissions, improve public health, and make sure every community can enjoy vibrant streets and public spaces.
Published on: 16/02/2010
