Record breaking support for Walk to School Week in Warwickshire
This week has seen a record breaking 121 of Warwickshire's schools join in with the start of this year’s National Walk to School Week.
Ten more schools than last year are taking part in this year’s massively popular Walk to School Week, which aims to celebrate how walking instead of driving to school makes a massive contribution towards cutting pollution, congestion and improving health.
Cars produce the gas carbon dioxide, which causes climate change along with local air pollution, attributed to causing breathing difficulties like asthma in children.
In terms of local air pollution it’s the school run that is one of the worst offenders as short, stop, start journeys with cold engines are the worst polluters.
Contrary to popular belief, being in a car means that you breathe in around three times more pollution than a pedestrian.
The campaign asks people to leave their keys by the door and walk to school. If this isn’t possible then people can always park a 15-minute walk from the school gates and get a healthy walk for the remainder of the journey.
Cllr Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: "Walking isn’t just great for the environment it’s great for ourselves and our children too. Walking to school lets us spend quality time with our children and the average walk can burn more calories than the schools PE quota meaning children can get their recommended one hour a day of physical activity.”