National Walk to School Week

My colleague Jane Almond, Assistant Travel Adviser in the Council's Highways team, sent me this update on National Walk to School Week ...

"Dear Chris, Just to let you know, this week is National Walk to School Week (17 -21st May), and we are delighted at the number of Leeds school who have agreed to take part. This year’s theme is getting to know your local neighbourhood and we seemed to have picked a week with a promising weather forecast! 88 Primary Schools and Primrose High School have told us they intend to organise walking events during the week. This is a total of almost 25,000 children! Schools have arranged lots of initiatives including; the launch of new walking buses, treasure hunts and i-spy events, themed walks, special assemblies, orienteering events, pedometer challenges and class competitions. We have supplied resource packs to all the schools who registered an interest. The packs include: stickers, posters and a variety of prizes, plus a quiz with a chance for one child in each school to win a £10 voucher. A photographer is going out to Kippax North Primary and St Josephs RC Primary at Hunslet on Wednesday and Thursday morning to take pictures of their events.We are hoping for a similarly excellent response for Bike Week which is taking place between 19th and 27th June and will update you about the progress of this event. Kind regards, Jane."

Jane and her colleagues are doing brilliant work encouraging children and young people and their parents and carers to get out of their cars and walk to their local school. Through these fantastic initiatives we can encourage healthier lifestyles and reduce traffic and pollution. I hope schools will also get involved with Bike Week.
Chris