Member Article

Pupils step up for Walk to School Week

Local school children have been taking road safety in their stride this week, joining builder, Wates Construction, for Living Streets’ national ‘Walk to School’ week (18th - 22 May).

Pupils from Heathfield Primary School in Basford and Bluebell Primary School in St Ann’s participated in the challenge, which encourages children to be more active by walking to school.

Throughout the week, volunteers from Wates also held a series of assemblies at both schools, joined by health and safety mascot, Ivor Goodsite, to help educate the children on the importance of road safety.

The initiative saw volunteers from Wates take time out from their work across the city. Current projects include the expansion of Heathfield Primary and the extensive refurbishment of Sneinton Market, both of which were procured via the East Midlands Property Alliance (empa) framework.

The activities form part of the national ‘Walk to School’ campaign led by road safety champions, Living Streets. The week-long initiative is hailed as one the UK’s leading behaviour change campaigns for young people, reaching over 13 million people.

Richard Scarrott, Business Unit Director, Wates Construction Midlands, commented: “Our work in Nottingham gives us huge scope to invest time back into the community and our sponsorship of Living Streets’ Walk to School week is a valuable way to ensure we create benefit for local people.

“As building contractors, our number one priority is health and safety and whilst this campaign aims to encourage children to exercise more, it also helps to give them an understanding of road safety.”

Alan Coole, head of empa said he was very supportive of the project after walking to primary and secondary school himself, regularly covering up to fifteen miles a week.

He said: “At empa we’re not only committed to helping schools like Heathfield and Bluebell Primary School save money and time during construction or refurbishment, but we’re always happy to support initiatives like Walk To School week that support education and learning. Thank you to the volunteers from Wates who took part in the scheme helping children to be more active and learn how to keep safe too.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Wates .