Cardiff pupil celebrates national design success  

Rose, aged 10 from Birchgrove Primary School in Cardiff, was one of 116,000 pupils who entered the WOW badge design competition from Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking.  

WOW is Living Streets’ award-winning walk to school challenge, which sees children who walk, wheel, cycle, scoot or ‘Park and Stride’ to school at least once a week rewarded with collectable WOW badges each month.   

This year’s competition theme was The British Nature Walk. Budding designers were invited to go on an adventure in their local area and draw the wildlife that they found or draw a special memory of nature from a holiday in Britain.   

Rose’s winning design features the Welsh landscape, and she wrote in her entry: “I really like mountains with a view, they remind me of Wales.” 

Rose’s prize includes a book token, a trophy and WOW goodies for her school.  

Stephen Edwards, Chief Executive, Living Streets said:  

“WOW is a fun and easy way to help children stay healthy and happy by encouraging them to be active every day. More children walking to school also means fewer cars around the school gates – making them safer and cleaner places. 

“Children love taking part in WOW and collecting the badges. This year, we were looking for colourful and creative designs that celebrate British nature and Rose’s design was one that stood out from the crowd. She should be very proud to have pupils across England, Scotland and Wales wearing her design.” 

Mrs Morgan, Head Teacher at Birchgrove Primary School, said:  

“We are delighted that one of our pupil's designs was chosen to be worn by thousands of children across the UK as walk, wheel, cycle and scoot to school.  We’re very proud of Rose’s winning design – and also of each and every pupil making the effort to be active on the school run. Llongyfarchiadau mawr!” 

Rose’s design has been turned into the January badge, awarded to pupils in over 1,500 WOW schools across the UK.     

There are currently over 50 schools running the WOW programme in Cardiff, thanks to a partnership between Living Streets and Cardiff Council. 

And thanks to support from the Welsh Government, Living Streets Cymru is working with 170 primary schools and 42 secondary schools across Wales as part of a two-year project. 

Entries are now open for the WOW Badge Competiton 2024. Find out how you can enter and follow in Rose’s winning footsteps here.