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Children across the UK have made over one million journeys to school on bikes as part of an inter-school competition which encourages children to be more active.
Over ten days children from 1,520 schools took part in The Big Pedal and by 5pm on Friday March 14th an impressive 1,104,700 journeys to school on bikes and scooters had been recorded on the competition website.
The competition, run Sustrans and funded by Bike Hub, challenged families to leave their cars at home and cycle and scoot the school run.
Participating schools saw an unprecedented number of children taking part; Ferndale Community Primary School in Swindon increased the number of children cycling and scooting to school from just two per cent to 75 per cent.
“Each one of the journeys made during The Big Pedal proves that families can change the way they travel if they choose to," said Malcolm Shepherd, chief executive at Sustrans.
“Everyday millions of children across the UK are driven to primary school, even though most families live an average of just 1.8 miles from their primary school. It’s a distance which takes just 20 minutes to cycle or scoot.
“When cycling and scooting are incorporated into daily routines they can play a vital role in improving the health and wellbeing of our children.”
Although the average journey to secondary school is 3.4 miles and 1.8 miles for primary schools, research shows that only four per cent of children currently cycle or scoot to school.
