Living Streets are the champions of streets and public spaces for people on foot. They work on practical projects to create safe, vibrant and healthy streets for all.
Their belief is that "local streets are a service that we all use but that for decades, traffic priorities have been allowed to overwhelm them, and they have been left dirty and unsafe. Vibrant streets help to revitalise neighbourhoods and reconnect people."
Living Streets organises two national Walk to School campaigns every year.
Read on for the details and contact information, but the campaign meets on the fourth Tuesday at Gateshead Civic Centre at 6.45pm, nine times a year (not Christmas, Easter or August)...
Walk to School Week last October (2005) was a huge sucess with over 1.8 million pupils taking to the streets and walking to school.
This year, Monday 22nd to Friday 26th May and Monday 2nd - Friday 6th October 2006, we hope that even more pupils, teachers and parents will support the weeks and reap the health benefits of walking on a regular basis.
Walk to School is an exciting campaign asking parents, pupils and teachers to incorporate regular physical activity into their daily lives by walking to and from school whenever possible.
Walk to School messages are promoted with the support of 65% of local authorities. The campaign reaches more than 1 million pupils and their carers twice a year and receives widespread media coverage.
The benefits of walking to school:
SAFETY training Walking regularly with a child from a young age enables them to develop life skills; preparing children with road safety and personal awareness skills.
CONGESTION reduction
Fewer cars on our roads is good for the environment and local communities; fewer cars at the school gate can make it safer for pupils making their way to and from school.
HEALTH benefits
Walking to and from school allows adults and children to incorporate physical activity into their daily routines.
ON THE BALL PUPILS who walk to school arrive wide awake and are therefore more prepared for the school day ahead.
OUR fun and friendship
Friends and family can walk to and from school together and enjoy some quality time.
LEARNING for life
Walking regularly enables a child to become more familiar with their surroundings and provides them with the opportunity to learn about the weather and changing seasons first hand.
Campaign background and history
The very first 'Walk to School' week took place in 1995 with just five primary schools. The following year the idea was launched as a national campaign and has continued to grow in size ever since.
Only eight years later, there are two national focus weeks a year (early in the autumn term and during the summer term). In the UK, the campaign is managed by a national campaign co-ordinator and overseen by a partnership involving Living Streets and Travelwise. October 2003 also saw the first ever International 'Walk to School' Week, which gained the support of 33 countries including America, Belgium, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The two national Walk to School weeks enable pupils, parents, schools and local authorities to come together to promote the importance of walking to school to the media and therefore the community at large. The campaign co-ordinator based at Living Streets, works closely with road safety, education and transport planning departments all over the UK to ensure Walk to School messages reach more schools, pupils and parents with every campaign.
Increasing numbers of visits to the 'Walk to School' website www.walktoschool.org.uk highlights the popularity of this campaign. An average of 2500 new people visit the site each month.
How Walk to School Works
Walk to school resources are designed and prepared by the national partnership in advance of every focus week. Local authorities are responsible for the distribution of these resources to schools in their area. Information is also available to schools, teachers, parents and local authorities through the official Walk to School website or by contacting the national campaign co-ordinator directly.
Schools promote Walk to School in all sorts of innovative and informative ways. Tried and tested campaign ideas include incentives for pupils who walk to school (such as stickers or certificates), teachers incorporating road safety or environmental awareness into lesson time and Walk to School themed publicity events. Where we see good practice, we aim to tell others about it.
With each campaign that passes, new schools sign up to the Walk to School message. And it works:
Promotion of the Walk to School campaig does attract media attention, not just locally, but nationally and so brings the message to a much wider audience.
Schools do want to combat the problem of traffic congestion
Parents do want their children to benefit from regular physical activity
Pupils do want to walk to school with their friends!
The future of Walk to School
Despite all this, there is still so much more that can be achieved with the Walk to School campaign. More than half of our children are still not regularly walking to school. The number of cars involved in the school run is increasing and as a nation we are becoming less active.
The next 'Walk to School' week will be Monday 2nd - Friday 6th October 2006
For further information on the National Walk to School campaign, please contact Jo Pike, National Walk to School Week Campaign Coordinator at Living Streets, on email: donna.mcloughlin@livingstreets.org.uk or telephone number: 0207 8201010.
Posted by Barbara-Ann Brown on August 22, 2006 1:24 PM
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Living Streets' Walk to School Campaign
Living Streets are the champions of streets and public spaces for people on foot. They work on practical projects to create safe, vibrant and healthy streets for all.
Their belief is that "local streets are a service that we all use but that for decades, traffic priorities have been allowed to overwhelm them, and they have been left dirty and unsafe. Vibrant streets help to revitalise neighbourhoods and reconnect people."
Living Streets organises two national Walk to School campaigns every year.
Read on for the details and contact information, but the campaign meets on the fourth Tuesday at Gateshead Civic Centre at 6.45pm, nine times a year (not Christmas, Easter or August)...
Walk to School Week last October (2005) was a huge sucess with over 1.8 million pupils taking to the streets and walking to school.
This year, Monday 22nd to Friday 26th May and Monday 2nd - Friday 6th October 2006, we hope that even more pupils, teachers and parents will support the weeks and reap the health benefits of walking on a regular basis.
Walk to School is an exciting campaign asking parents, pupils and teachers to incorporate regular physical activity into their daily lives by walking to and from school whenever possible.
Walk to School messages are promoted with the support of 65% of local authorities. The campaign reaches more than 1 million pupils and their carers twice a year and receives widespread media coverage.
The benefits of walking to school:
SAFETY training Walking regularly with a child from a young age enables them to develop life skills; preparing children with road safety and personal awareness skills.
CONGESTION reduction
Fewer cars on our roads is good for the environment and local communities; fewer cars at the school gate can make it safer for pupils making their way to and from school.
HEALTH benefits
Walking to and from school allows adults and children to incorporate physical activity into their daily routines.
ON THE BALL PUPILS who walk to school arrive wide awake and are therefore more prepared for the school day ahead.
OUR fun and friendship
Friends and family can walk to and from school together and enjoy some quality time.
LEARNING for life
Walking regularly enables a child to become more familiar with their surroundings and provides them with the opportunity to learn about the weather and changing seasons first hand.
Campaign background and history
The very first 'Walk to School' week took place in 1995 with just five primary schools. The following year the idea was launched as a national campaign and has continued to grow in size ever since.
Only eight years later, there are two national focus weeks a year (early in the autumn term and during the summer term). In the UK, the campaign is managed by a national campaign co-ordinator and overseen by a partnership involving Living Streets and Travelwise. October 2003 also saw the first ever International 'Walk to School' Week, which gained the support of 33 countries including America, Belgium, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The two national Walk to School weeks enable pupils, parents, schools and local authorities to come together to promote the importance of walking to school to the media and therefore the community at large. The campaign co-ordinator based at Living Streets, works closely with road safety, education and transport planning departments all over the UK to ensure Walk to School messages reach more schools, pupils and parents with every campaign.
Increasing numbers of visits to the 'Walk to School' website www.walktoschool.org.uk highlights the popularity of this campaign. An average of 2500 new people visit the site each month.
How Walk to School Works
Walk to school resources are designed and prepared by the national partnership in advance of every focus week. Local authorities are responsible for the distribution of these resources to schools in their area. Information is also available to schools, teachers, parents and local authorities through the official Walk to School website or by contacting the national campaign co-ordinator directly.
Schools promote Walk to School in all sorts of innovative and informative ways. Tried and tested campaign ideas include incentives for pupils who walk to school (such as stickers or certificates), teachers incorporating road safety or environmental awareness into lesson time and Walk to School themed publicity events. Where we see good practice, we aim to tell others about it.
With each campaign that passes, new schools sign up to the Walk to School message. And it works:
Promotion of the Walk to School campaig does attract media attention, not just locally, but nationally and so brings the message to a much wider audience.
Schools do want to combat the problem of traffic congestion
Parents do want their children to benefit from regular physical activity
Pupils do want to walk to school with their friends!
The future of Walk to School
Despite all this, there is still so much more that can be achieved with the Walk to School campaign. More than half of our children are still not regularly walking to school. The number of cars involved in the school run is increasing and as a nation we are becoming less active.
The next 'Walk to School' week will be Monday 2nd - Friday 6th October 2006
For further information on the National Walk to School campaign, please contact Jo Pike, National Walk to School Week Campaign Coordinator at Living Streets, on email: donna.mcloughlin@livingstreets.org.uk or telephone number: 0207 8201010.
Posted by Barbara-Ann Brown on August 22, 2006 1:24 PM
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