South Glos schools grants to encourage walking

Grants totalling nearly £37,000 have been awarded to six South Gloucestershire schools to make it easier and safer for children to get to lessons without relying on the car.

The primary and secondary schools have been working on travel plans for the past year with the help of South Gloucestershire Council.

Each aims to cut car travel to and from school and get more youngsters walking or cycling to class instead.

The plans were sent to the Department for Children, Schools and Families, which recognised their efforts by allocating £36,500 to be divided between them.

Since the scheme to create safer routes to schools was introduced, 97 South Gloucestershire schools have applied for funding and between them have received nearly £400,000 to carry out various schemes.

Individual plans encourage safer walking to school, introduce road markings to improve safety near school buildings, build bike sheds and teach pupils about sustainable transport.

As well as cutting congestion around schools, it is also hoped the children will become healthier.

The schools getting the latest hand-out are Marlwood School, Alveston; Emersons Green Primary School; St Peter's Primary School, Pilning; St John's Mead Church of England Primary School, Chipping Sodbury; Culverhill Special School, Yate, and St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Bradley Stoke.