Pupils' walking relay across Glenrothes

Twenty-five pupils recently took part in a WoW Relay of approximately two miles with each school relaying the inflatable mascot Strider across the town.

The relay started with youngsters from Pitteuchar West Primary. Starting from their school in Inverary Avenue they made their way to Rimbleton Avenue where they handed Strider over to pupils from Rimbleton Primary.

They then walked the middle leg of the journey to South Parks Road, where they were met by children from Southwood Primary.

This group then carried the mascot on the last leg of the journey back to their school in Marchmont Crescent.

Last year Fife Council successfully applied for funding from the Scottish Government’s Smarter Choices, Smarter Places fund to allow 40 schools across the Kingdom to take part in the WoW initiative.

It encourages children to walk or cycle to school.

Over the past 12 months, schools in Glenrothes have been signing up to the active travel initiative with five now on board.

Schools log the trips of pupils to measure how many walk, cycle, scoot or ‘park and stride’.

Latest figures reveal that 84 per cent of school journeys for the Glenrothes area are active trips.

And the council believe it is likely to increase even more as we head into the summer months.

Councillor Bill Brown, chairman of the Glenrothes area committee, said: “The growth of the Walk Once a Week initiative over the last year is great news for pupils at our participating schools in Glenrothes.

“I’d like to congratulate the pupils and their parents for making so many of their journeys active ones.

“They are worthy ambassadors in encouraging us all to make us all to make small changes to our daily habits for the benefit of our health and the environment!”

The Smarter Choices, Smarter Places initiative was developed to encourage more people to reduce use of their car in favour of more sustainable alternatives such as walking, cycling and public transport.