Next week is Walk to School Week

walk to school week 2017

Walk to School Week is an initiative very close to our hearts. The very first Walk to School week was in 1995 and involved five primary schools taking part in our very own Green Transport Week. Since then the event has grown and grown. It has had to; a generation ago, 70% of us walked to school – now it’s less than half.

Now in the capable hands of Living Streets, Walk to School Week is about much more than encouraging a temporary interruption of the school run. It’s about fostering a new generation of walkers.

walk to school week 2017

As outlined on the excellent Walk to School website:

  • Children who do some form of exercise, especially a walk before school, do better in class because they arrive refreshed, fit and ready to learn
  • During morning peak traffic times, one in five cars on the road is taking children school; contributing to congestion, air pollution and carbon emissions
  • The school run alone generates two million tons of CO2 per year

Walk to School week takes place 15 – 19 May 2017.

Safer Crossings for Schools

When we were approached by a group of parents whose request for a zebra crossing at a road traffic collision black spot outside their local infant school had been turned down on grounds of cost, we went about building one ourselves as cheaply as possible. Following coverage of our campaign in the Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Evening Standard and Metro newspapers and on numerous radio stations, the local authority concerned quickly installed the much-needed real zebra crossing. However, many applications continue to be turned down.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Jonathan Hordle / Rex Features (1746449i) Bertie (5) lays out the pop-up zebra crossing in Alexandra Road in Kingston-upon-Thames The first ever pop-up zebra crossing, London, Britain - 19 Jun 2012 FULL WORDS LINK: http://www.rexfeatures.com/nanolink/gwt7 Trouble crossing the road? The world's first pop-up zebra crossing lets you stop traffic whenever you want. With the ability to be installed on any road in less than a minute, testing locations have included the iconic black-and-white stripe crossing at Abbey Road, scene of the famous Beatles album cover shoot, and a residental road in North London. The idea was developed by parents in Kingston-upon-Thames after their request for a safe crossing outside their children's school was turned down on the basis of cost; according to the Highways Agency, a basic zebra crossing costs an eye-watering GBP 114,000. The pop-up zebra crossing costs less than GBP 50 to install and uses recycled linoleum, drain pipes and two orange balloons to create an effect that is almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

With our experience of running Walk to School campaigns we are well aware that safety concerns can be a major deterrent to parents allowing their children to make the often short daily journey on foot.

We have now refined our pop-up zebra crossing concept so that it is easier for schools to mount protests of their own. The new inflatable zebra crossing is bigger, brighter and easier to transport. Let us know if your request for a zebra crossing has been turned down.

Your journey. Our world

The ETA has been voted to be an ethical company like no other in Britain for the second year running by the Good Shopping Guide. Beating household-name insurance companies such as John Lewis and the Co-op, the ETA earned an ethical company index score of 89.

The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Over 26 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance, travel insurance and breakdown cover while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.

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