Streatham MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy joined pupils at Richard Atkins Primary in Brixton Hill on Clean Air Day this Thursday, 8th October, to celebrate the strides they’ve made to improve air quality and encourage more to do the same during Walk to School Week.
The number of London schools with illegally toxic air has dropped dramatically since 2016 – down 95 per cent in four years, although Lambeth is among six boroughs where there are still schools with illegal levels of air pollution.
Walk to School Week is organised by Living Streets , the UK charity for everyday walking which has been running its Walk to School campaign for over 20 years.
It aims to encourage families to try healthier and greener ways to travel to school. Living Streets is also campaigning for changes to the Highway Code to put people first and a ban on-pavement parking.
Mary Creagh, Chief Executive, Living Streets said:
Walking to school is a fun and easy way for families to get active.
We’re thrilled that local pupils are joining thousands of children nationwide to swap the school run for a school walk. We need safer streets so more families have confidence to walk to school.”
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour Member of Parliament for Streatham, said:
Walk to School Week gives our children the chance to enjoy fresh air and exercise. It reduces congestion, improves road safety and contributes to cleaner air around schools.
We’ve seen a marked improvement in air pollution in London in recent times but there’s still a long way to go to make our neighbourhoods healthier.
“I hope more families in Streatham will follow in the footsteps of the pupils at Richard Atkins Primary and give walking to school a go.”
Is it correct that the diversion of traffic has led to a sharp rise in air pollution on the street to which they have been diverted. I am told that Lambeth and Southwark are counting vehicles but not measuring changes in pollution levels. For the first time since moving onto Lambeth (over 20 years ago) I am having breathing problems. I live on one of the streets which now has an afternoon traffic jam its entire length.