Luton Borough Council

28/04/2022 - Can you leave the car at home and walk to work or school in May?

May is Living Streets' National Walking Month, with Walk to School week in the middle of the month, and this year’s campaign is asking people to #Try20 and walk for 20 minutes every day in May.

We are encouraging residents and school children to take part, and even go one step further by leaving the car at home and walking, push scooting or cycling to work or school, visits to friends and family, or to the shops. where possible.

By swapping a short drive for a short walk, or your usual drive to work for public transport and a bit of walking, you can help reduce air pollution, congestion and road danger - whilst saving yourself some money and getting active in the process.

Walking is an easy and accessible way to improve physical and mental health and a 20-minute walk can reduce the risk of a number of preventable health conditions, including certain cancers, depression, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

Walk to School Week starts on Monday 16 May – a five-day walking challenge for children and their parents or carers to walk to and from school every day. As part of this, Luton Council’s Road Safety team are running a competition through infants, juniors and primary schools, asking school children to promote walking, cycling and push scooting to school by creating a poster.

Gift vouchers will be given to those who come up with the best designs.

Cllr Rob Roche, portfolio holder responsible for Sustainable Development and Highways, said: “We are currently facing the huge challenge of climate change and have adopted a target of delivering a zero carbon town by 2040. Transport has a huge part to play in whether we meet this target so we must encourage as many as possible to travel more actively, and maybe consider walking as an alternative to travelling by car.”

“By encouraging residents to change their travel habits and go to work or school by foot, push scooter or cycle during this month, we hope promote the benefits and reduce the reliance on vehicles in the town. This fits in with the wider approach to climate change and is a way everybody can contribute positively – by leaving the car at home and walking instead.”

To find out more about National Walking Month and Walk to School week, visit the Living Streets website.

Check our social media channels for #Try20 tips and updates throughout May and do tag us - @LutonCouncil - in any nice photos of your walks.

You can also email [email protected] to share photos and tell us about your walks or any other changes you are making to help combat climate change - we may share them on our social media channels. If you do so before Friday 27 may, you could enter our Climate Change Champion competition as part of our ‘Easy Being Green’ campaign..

For those taking part in the competition through their school, the poster should be A4 and feature the wording 'Leave the car at Home'. All entries should be sent to [email protected] by 5pm on Friday 20 May 2022.