When walking goes up, pollution goes down

Living Streets' Walk to School campaign encourages thousands of families to walk each year

Posted by Hannah Oakman | March 02, 2016 | Health & wellbeing

• #living-streets
• #walk-to-school
• #campaign

Walking is a fun and accessible way to get children to be more physically active. By swapping four wheels for two feet on the journey to school we can have a positive impact on children’s health and wellbeing, and reduce our carbon footprint.

A significant 23% of peak-time traffic is made up from those on the school run, so the more children walking the less congestion and pollution there will be on our local roads.

Joe Irvin, Living Streets’ Chief Executive, says: “Walking to school can help children and parents have a healthy and active lifestyle and brings us one step closer to having a healthy planet. Here, at Living Streets, we want walking to be the natural choice for shorter journeys.”

Walk to school with Living Streets

Living Streets’ Walk to School campaign has been going for over 20 years and encourages thousands of families to walk each year. Our campaign is proven to significantly increase walking rates, creating safer, cleaner streets and happier, healthier pupils. 

Schools can take part in week-long and year-long schemes: Walk to School Week and Walk once a Week (WoW).

Walk Once a Week (WoW)

WoW rewards children who walk to school at least once a week with monthly collectable badges, which are designed by pupils in an annual design competition. 

The scheme is further supported by our innovative and interactive Travel Tracker, our Walk to School app, and monthly curriculum-linked learning resources.

Walk to School Week, 16 – 22 May 

Walk to School Week takes place during Living Streets’ National Walking Month each May. Last year, over 14,000 classes took part in this celebration of walking; that’s approximately 400,000 children walking to school. 

Join our campaign

Take part in something great. Together we can make a lasting difference to our children, our local environment and our wider community. 

Visit http://www.livingstreets.org.uk/walk-with-us/walk-to-school or call Cassie, our Schools Engagement Coordinator, on 020 7456 9794 to get involved