Pupils from Broadford Primary School joined over 100,000 children across
the UK taking to the streets on 10 June 2015 as part of Brake's Giant Walk, the
road safety charity’s initiative sponsored by Brantano to get children walking
and highlight the importance of road safety to children leading active, healthy
lives.
Over 100,000 children taking part in the event are walking a combined
total of over 60,000 miles, learning about road safety and calling on drivers
to ‘GO 20’ in communities to make streets safer for kids to walk and cycle.
Almost half (46%) of UK primary school children are driven to school
[1], impacting on children’s health and contributing to congestion and traffic
danger. This lack of physical activity is a factor in rising childhood obesity,
with three in 10 children in England aged two to 15 now overweight or obese
[2]. The World Health Organisation recently warned of a looming obesity
epidemic if lifestyles do not change, with three-quarters of men and two-thirds
of women in the UK projected to be overweight in 15 years’ time [3].
British kids have expressed their wish to get out and about more on foot
and bike, with three quarters (76%) of participants in
last year’s Giant Walk saying they want to walk and cycle more, to
get to school, go to the park, or to see friends. However, more than half (56%)
said they are scared of being run over by traffic when walking or cycling on
roads [4].
Brake is campaigning for drivers and government to take action to make
streets safer for kids and help them enjoy a healthy, active, happy childhood,
by backing
Brake's GO 20
campaign. For drivers, this means slowing down to 20mph or less wherever there
may be people on foot or bike, and always keeping a look out for vulnerable
road users. For government, this means implementing widespread 20mph speed
limits in towns, cities and villages – one of the most effective measures
identified by the World Health Organisation to reduce pedestrian casualties
[5].
Mrs Stanley Assistant
Head Teacher at Broadford, said “We’re
delighted to be taking part in Brake’s Giant Walk. It’s a fantastic opportunity for kids to make their voices heard and promote
road safety to children, parents and local drivers. Our pupils will be marching
and shouting out loud about the importance of drivers slowing down in our
community, so families can enjoy a healthy, fun, active lifestyle without being
endangered.”
Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive,
Brake, said: “Recent
reports have provided a stark warning about the potential consequences of the
UK slipping further into a spiral of physical inactivity. The impacts will be
felt hardest by our children, who could face a lifetime of poor health and pick
up the bill for rising healthcare costs. This crisis can be averted, but we
need urgent action.
“As is clear from
the thousands taking part in Brake’s Giant Walk today, including pupils from Broadford,
kids love to get out and about on foot and bike, and parents want to be able to
let them. It is a national scandal that danger from fast traffic often prevents
children from having the fun, active, healthy childhoods they deserve. We need
drivers to stick to 20mph or less in communities to protect kids. We also
continue to campaign for government to make 20mph the national urban default
and provided sustained funding for safe walking and cycling infrastructure. Safe
active travel should be the norm for all our kids, not a luxury.”
Karen Stanton from Brantano said:
"It’s brilliant to see so many schools, parents and children getting
involved in this year’s Giant Walk and to have our stores joining in today is a
fantastic opportunity. The collaboration with Brake allows us to not only
raise awareness of the importance of correctly fitting shoes for children’s
foot health but also to reinforce messages about the dangers of roads and the
importance of safe road use to both children and parents, as well as promoting
the health and environmental benefits of walking and cycling to school."
About Brake’s
Giant Walk
Brake’s Giant Walk is an annual event in primary schools where
children learn about traffic pollution and danger, and transport choices.
Schools taking part get their pupils to walk (in a crocodile of supervised
kids, holding hands on safe pavements, or around the school’s grounds) which
gives children a voice, helping them tell drivers to slow down and look out for
people on foot. Children can be sponsored to take part and schools can run
fundraising events, helping fund Brake's campaigns and services for families
bereaved and injured by road crashes.
About
Brake’s GO 20 campaign
Why
GO 20?
- Fewer casualties: at
20, drivers have far more time to react in an emergency. Studies show when
20 limits replace 30, there are fewer casualties among pedestrians and
cyclists [6].
- More walking and
cycling: danger from traffic is a major barrier in enabling more
people to walk and cycle. Town and city-wide 20 limits have resulted in
more people walking and cycling [7].
- Healthier, happier
people: More walking and cycling means healthier people, and more
enjoyable outdoors activity for kids and adults. It helps communities
interact and be communities.
- Less pollution: GOing 20 means lower emissions
from vehicle journeys [8]. Plus if more people can switch their commute or
school run to foot or bike, it means less polluting traffic.
- Lower costs: Poor
health from inactivity costs society dearly [9]. Road casualties cost even
more, due to the suffering and burden on health and emergency services [10].
Preventing casualties and improving health means GOing 20 pays for itself
many times over [11]. It also helps people save money by choosing the
cheapest ways to get about: foot and bike.
Advice for parents
Deciding
at what age to let children walk or cycle to school unsupervised is a difficult
decision for most parents, who are faced with weighing up the benefits of their
child living an active lifestyle with the threat of their child being hurt by
traffic. Research shows that many are put off letting their child get out and
about by traffic danger [12]. Making roads safer helps more parents choose to
let children walk or cycle.
Parents
who are worried that their child’s route to school isn’t safe enough have a
number of options. If it’s possible, they could walk with their child to
school, helping to keep them safe, or set up a walking bus with the help of
other parents. They could also work with the school to set up a
local campaign for safer roads, calling for measures such as
20mph limits, crossings, pavements and paths. They can also check if their
child’s school runs
practical pedestrian and cyclist training, and encourage them to contact
the local authority to provide this if they don’t.
Brake
Brake is a national road
safety charity that exists to stop the needless deaths and serious injuries
that happen on roads every day, make streets and communities safer for
everyone, and care for families bereaved and injured in road crashes. Brake
promotes road safety awareness, safe and sustainable road use, and
effective road safety policies. We do this through national
campaigns,
community education,
services for road safety professionals
and employers, and by coordinating the UK's flagship road safety event
every November,
Road Safety
Week. Brake is a national, government-funded provider of
support to families and
individuals devastated by road death and serious injury, including through a
helpline and support packs.
Brake was founded in the UK in 1995, and now has domestic
operations in the UK and
New Zealand,
and works globally to promote action on road safety.
Brantano
Brantano has stores nationwide and offer an
extensive range of shoes and brands to suit all budgets. Offering convenient
out of town shopping with most of its stores located on retail parks, the
shopping experience is unlike many other traditional footwear shops, as the
shoes are displayed in pairs that can be easily selected and tried on
immediately. The stores all offer a free fitting service, with staff trained by
top brands such as Clarks, Start Rite and Hush Puppies. The team are put
through rigorous training followed by at least 25 supervised fits before being
given the title of ‘expert fitter’. For more information visit
www.brantano.co.uk.
