Came across this article in this week's copy of C W.
Quote:
WANTED!: parents to become champions of walking and cycling to school!"
Apparently the transport charity Sustrans registerd 1600 "champion schools" in a pilot last year. Now they are launching a "new" campaign to persudae parents to abandon the school run cars and ride with thier little dears instead
Somehow - I feel a little worried over Mumpty on a bike here Government figures reveal that 30% of boys and 40% of girls do not take one hour's exercise per day.
Sustrans say that just one "champion" parent leading a bike bus or crocodile to school could get a quarter of a million more kids either cycling or walking to school.
Logic! They have to be in same area and we all know we all live in different parts of the catchment area...and the one parent chosen will need a CREB check at £60 per person as legal requirement for being around kids![/quote]
The charity reckons this will cut congestion and CO2 emissions.
Perhaps.
Dr Ashley Cooper -- Head of Exercise and Health Studies at Bristol University agrees
Quote:
Encouraging children to walk or cycle to school is a step in the right direction of getting them in the habit of taking exercise, stimulating a change from sedentary to more active lifestyles .
Research shows that active children are less prone to illness than sedentary children and are less likely to become obese. They can cope better with daily routine tasks and develop a better self -image and self confidence
Sustrans say that last year's pilot scheme parents organised car-free days, cycle training days and cycle/walking schemes
Sarah Oakley of Sustrans wrote:
This is people power at its best and we hope our scheme will encourage some amazing results
She adds that the "champions" do more than talk - they [i] do and "make things happen".
Sustrans hope to have 29,000 champions i - one in each school by 2010.
To find out more:
www.areyouachampion.org.uk
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Methinks a bit of the rose tinted specs again....
Agree kids need to walk more and we need to reduce school runs as this stifles independence to some extent. I used to walk to the school bus stop as a lad, call in at the little shop for a "quarter of Uncle Joe's mintballs and some penny gobstoppers
" and chat up the girls on the bus
Then got more exercise by walking to school from the bus stop at the end of the bus journey.
But as for a "champion" parent to chaperone a group to school? Not sure how possible this would be to working mums and dads - and anyone who works or is in working contact with kids has to have a criminal records check - costs £60 to taxpayers and the wait (due to sheer volume and repeat request from each establishment a candidate teacher etc applies to ) is ridiculous.