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More than 10,000 Harrogate pupils take part in Walk to School Day

Tuesday, 4 July 2023 06:00

Ten thousand Harrogate students and their families have left their cars at home this academic year for the journey to school.

More than 10,000 Harrogate pupils take part in Walk to School Day Ten thousand students and their families, from 36 schools in the Harrogate District, have put their best foot forward this academic year and left their cars at home for the journey to school. Every half term there has been a Walk to School event, organised by local charity Zero Carbon Harrogate and supported by North Yorkshire Council. The final event of the academic year was held on Friday (30th June). Throughout the year, children have been swapping door-to-door car journeys for active travel options like walking, scooting or cycling. For those unable to choose active travel options, the event also encouraged car sharing or even “park and stride” which involves driving part of the journey and walking for the remainder. [caption id="attachment_69379" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Walk to School Day in Spofforth.[/caption] Harrogate Town Football Club’s mascot Harry Gator has made a visit each time to a local school to walk in with pupils. And this term, it was the turn of Rossett Acre Primary School to welcome the mascot. Headteacher Corrine Penhale said:

"Our families always take part enthusiastically on the Walk to School Days, and the visit from Harry Gator made it very exciting for the pupils this time. Reducing our carbon footprint as a school community is so important to us."
[caption id="attachment_69389" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Your Harrogate's Pete Egerton interviewing Rossett Acre students.[/caption] Rossett Acre is part of the Red Kite Trust of schools, and CEO Richard Sherrif joined pupils on 30th June to congratulate them for taking part. He said:
“It was a delight to be able to support the Walk to School Day at Rossett Acre. As a Trust we are committed to doing all we can to reduce our carbon footprint and make sustainability a golden thread through all our work. "Our children are our inspiration for this work, it is the world that they inherit that we need to do all we can to protect. "As educators we have a key role in being advocates for sustainability and promoting learning that allows children to truly appreciate the wonder and fragility of our world."
Harrogate Town AFC Community Foundation are also supporting the event and engaging with people to be active and healthy. Tom Blackburn, PE and School Sport Manager said:
“This is our second year we have supported Zero Carbon Harrogate and their Walk to School Day initiative, it’s a fantastic idea which not only gets the young people walking to school but also their parents and even the teachers. "At Harrogate Town AFC Community Foundation we pride ourselves in building a brighter, better future and what better way to start that process by raising awareness to the young people, who we can inspire with our club mascot Harry Gator.”
Alex (age 5) from Rossett Acre said:
"I love walking to school every day because I can hold mummy’s hand and I like getting fresh air in my lungs. Sometimes I go on my bike or scooter, and sometimes if we’re late we run very fast!”
This academic year, 8 schools were awarded bronze, 6 were awarded silver and 22 were awarded gold certificates from the local charity Zero Carbon Harrogate. These awards celebrate schools for regular participation, depending on whether they took part 1-2, 3-4 or 5-6 times this year. The full list of school awards is on Zero Carbon Harrogate’s website at https://www.zerocarbonharrogate.org.uk/awards Being part of the Harrogate District Walk to School Day can help schools achieve national accreditations, as it can count towards schemes such as the Healthy Schools Award, Eco Schools and Modeshift STARS. North Yorkshire Council’s Sustainable Travel Officer, Chrystal Staveley said:
“As a council it is great for us to be part of such programmes and support schools to encourage active travel. We hope this will inspire other schools to consider what they can do to improve the environment and safety around the school gates. "North Yorkshire Council is constantly moving forward on the promotion of sustainable travel to schools and this positive event contributes heavily towards many of our current priorities.”
Zero Carbon Harrogate are also keen to support both schools and any organisation wishing to lower their carbon footprint, not just in regards to transport, but in all areas of our home or workplace. They have a handy guide on their website on how to ‘Go Zero’ here https://www.zerocarbonharrogate.org.uk/gozero Zero Carbon Harrogate’s Schools Lead, Fiona Jones said:
“Travelling less and changing how we travel is absolutely essential if we’re to limit the most damaging effects of the climate crisis. It’s everyone’s responsibility to look after our planet. "Even small changes can make a difference so we’re encouraging everyone to think about how they can reduce their car usage, even if it’s just one less journey each week to start with. Every mile counts!"
Read more local stories from Your Harrogate here.

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