WoW 2016 – Walk once a week
WoW - 'Walk Once a Week' - is one of the most popular walking initiatives run across the UK that encourages children to walk to school.
Using promotional materials such as collectable monthly badges, children are encouraged to walk to school at least one a week whilst learning about route planning plus the environmental and health benefits of walking.
Making WoW better
Many schools take part each year, and now Living Streets and Transport for London (TfL) want to help make the annual event an integral part of the school year to get children active and cut down on the number of trips to school by car.
Starting in March 2016, 20 schools selected by Living Streets and TfL will take part in WoW until the end of October 2016, and benefit from free materials and support.
Schools selected to take part in the pilot will receive the following:
- Monthly WoW badges from March to October 2016
- Access to the Travel Tracker online reporting tool
- A class of the month trophy and WoW banner for the school gates
- Access to curriculum-linked learning materials and a monthly e-newsletter
- A resource pack to run a ‘Happy Shoesday’ fundraising event at your school.
WoW in Waltham Forest
We’re delighted that seven of the 20 schools selected to take part in the pilot are in Waltham Forest:
- St Marys C of E Primary School
- Davies Lane Primary School
- Chingford Hall Primary School
- Jenny Hammond Primary School
- Our Lady and St George Primary School
- Edinburgh Primary School
- Gwyn Jones Primary School.
As well as receiving free materials, the school will be encouraged to take part in ‘Happy Shoesday’ in May during National Walking Month. This one-day fundraising event will help the schools, taking part in the pilot, to continue to fund WoW in the academic year 2016/17 and possibly beyond.
We’ll keep you up to date here on how these schools progress throughout the scheme.
WoW in your school
If you’re school wasn’t selected to take part in the pilot but you would like to run your own WoW event in your school this year, get in contact. We’d love to work with your school to help get more children in our borough walking to school.