Join us for a week of walking, cycling and scooting to school
Frome Town Council are organising The School Travel Challenge again this year in collaboration with Frome Missing Links. Schools taking part will be encouraging pupils and families to walk, cycle or scoot to school as much as possible from 21st to 25th May. Exciting events will be happening all week to motivate pupils including BMX shows, smoothie bikes, Dr Bike and obstacle courses.
The School Travel Challenge is raising awareness and funds for local charity, Frome’s Missing Links, who are actively working to link up traffic free and accessible walking and cycling routes around Frome.
Councillor Tricia Golinski said ‘We want to encourage everyone to think about how they travel to school and whether they could make their journeys more active. Even leaving the car at home once a week makes a huge difference. Walking, cycling or scooting together to school is a great chance to talk, play games and enjoy the journey without getting caught up in traffic jams and exhaust fumes.’
For anyone who must drive to school suggest ‘park and stride’. Parking a few minutes’ walk away and walking the remainder of the journey will increase the amount of exercise in your day and have a big impact on the number of cars arriving at the school gates. People are understandably concerned about road safety issues around schools but still many people arriving by car drive right up to the school entrance. Reducing the number of cars near schools makes the area safer and the air cleaner.
The School Travel Challenge is a chance to stop and think about how we travel with the encouragement of the school community (and a few prizes along the way!) Part of the fun can be finding a new mode of travelling, a new friend to walk with or a secret route to add to the adventure. Why stop at the school run? There are plenty of journeys in our lives that can be adapted to be more active or more sustainable. Hopefully the experience will encourage people to think about other journeys they make and continue travelling actively where possible beyond the week of the School Travel Challenge.
For more information about the challenge contact Emma at info@frometowncouncil.gov.uk
Photo: © Sustrans, all rights reserved
