In Wales, we’re looking to make active school travel the natural choice for short journeys.
Active travel simply means making every day journeys, like travelling to and from school, by foot, wheelchair, bicycle or scooter.
Walking/wheeling, cycling or scooting, using active ways of travel provides a range of benefits for you, your children and your communities.
As well as improving physical and mental health, it can boost our children’s confidence and independence, create space in our busy lives to check-in with one another, and has positive impacts on the environment.
There are lots of benefits to active school travel for you and your children.
We know that for some families, walking/wheeling, scooting or cycling the entire journey to school is not possible due to distance, nature of roads or perhaps an adult needing the car to travel on to work. Therefore, we also promote ‘park and ride/stride/scoot’ journeys to school, which involve a child being driven part of the journey to school and then walking/wheeling, cycling or scooting the remainder. Here are some tips:
• Start with small steps: If time is feeling tight, commit to walking/wheeling one day a week or walking/wheeling part of the way. You can then increase this week on week depending on what works for you and your family’s routine.
• One-way walks: Even if the walk/wheel to school isn’t doable, there’s always the end of the school day, when you may have a bit more flexibility with your time.
•Take turns with other families: Take turns with friends to share the walk/wheel to or from school. Splitting this responsibility and having to do it less often may help it feel more manageable. It’s also great fun for the kids to walk/wheel with their friends!
Our #ActiveSchoolTravel campaign is encouraging more people to take the active route to and from school. We would love for you to get involved!
Turning just one journey into an active journey every week or fortnight will bring benefits for you, your children and your communities.
Join the conversation by sharing your active school travel journey using #activeschooltravel
The #ActiveSchoolTravel campaign is a programme run by Public Health Wales to promote active ways of travel to school - by foot, wheelchaire, bicycle or scooter.
The Public Health Wales physical activity programme works closely with a range of organisations and individuals across Wales to increase the proportion of the population who are active. Partners include Welsh Government, Sport Wales, Transport for Wales, Natural Resources Wales, Play Wales, local public health teams, the third sector such as Sustrans, and universities.
Our vision for Wales is to create a thriving nation where physical activity is a part of everyday life. We envision a future where every person, regardless of age, background, or ability, embraces and enjoys the benefits of an active lifestyle.