Here I am pictured with children from St John’s Angell Town Primary School in Brixton, London, to launch Kia Motors 2010 sponsorship of Walking Bus, a national scheme designed to encourage families to ditch the car and let their children travel to school on foot as part of an organised group accompanied by trained adults. 

According to research carried out by Kia Motors, a staggering 63% of kids are driven to and from the school gates despite the fact that more than three-quarters (78%) of them live within two miles of their school.  As a result over 20% of all traffic in the mornings is generated by the school run.  Walking shorter journeys rather than taking the car provides health benefits for both us and the environment.  

Over the academic year, a single car journeying a three-mile round trip will produce 234kg of carbon emissions and with one in ten school children in Britain classified as obese, walking to school is a simple way for kids across the nation to get fit this New Year.  Walking just one mile a day would burn 100 calories, equating to 19,500 calories across the school year! 

For more information on Kia Motors sponsorship of Walking Bus please visit http://www.kia.co.uk/About-Kia/Walking-Bus.aspx