Harrogate District school children join the fight against climate change

Last month saw school children across the Harrogate District take action to tackle climate change.

On Friday 18th June, pupils from 31 schools took part in the first Harrogate District Walk to School Day, created by Zero Carbon Harrogate. Instead of their usual car journeys to school, children either walked, cycled, used public transport or used the ‘park and stride’ option and walked the last mile to school.

Schools competed to top the leaderboard of the percentage of pupils taking part, with North Stainley CE Primary School becoming the primary winners as 94% of pupils ditched their car journeys. Runners up were Killinghall CE Primary School and Aspin Park Academy in Knaresborough with 90% and 87% of children joining in respectively. Harrogate Grammar School topped the secondary table.

Ten-year-old Jessica summed up why Walk to School Day is important, saying: “I usually go [to school] in the car, but I want to change that because it pollutes the air. So today I walked.”

The next Walk to School Day is talking place on Friday 8th October, with even more schools already pledged to sign up.

Walk to School Day is part of a wider campaign called ‘Car Free Fridays’, which launches in Autumn 2021 during the Harrogate District Climate Action Festival, with the aim to encourage better transport habits. Road transport is the largest contributor to carbon emissions across Harrogate District and is 28% above the UK average. Reducing emissions from road transport is key if we are to meet our Net Zero targets.

For more information on Walk to School Day, visit:

https://www.zerocarbonharrogate.org.uk/harrogate-district-walk-to-school-day