Pupils, teachers, and parents across Central Bedfordshire are being encouraged to walk, wheel, or jump on their bikes and scooters for the 2025 Big Walk and Wheel schools’ challenge.

Now in its sixteenth year, Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel inspires pupils to make active journeys to school, improve air quality where they live, and help them to discover how these changes benefit their world.

Schools in Central Bedfordshire will be taking part in the Santa Challenge between Monday 25 November and Friday 6 December.

The challenge is a virtual race where every active journey to school made by pupils and their parents counts as one virtual mile to Santa’s home in Lapland.

Each morning of the challenge, pupils will record their active travel. After the two week challenge, all journeys at the school are combined, to see whether they have reached their goal of achieving two thousand miles (the equivalent distance from Central Bedfordshire to Lapland).

The aim is to reduce the number of cars on the school run and to continue to give pupils the opportunity to learn about the many benefits of ’active travel’ to school during the winter months, alongside the importance of staying safe.

Cycle to School Week will take place 23 – 27 September and all schools are invited to take part.  

Encourage staff and parents to save money, get healthier and alleviate congestion on the roads. To receive free resources for your school, you just need to make a pledge at Cycle to School Week - Bikeability.

Pupils in Central Bedfordshire will take to the streets for Walk to School Week. They will join thousands of children across the UK to take to their feet for Living Streets’ challenge ‘The Magic of Walking’. The challenge will encourage pupils to be active on their way to school, improving their health, happiness and local environment. Each day, the challenge will teach pupils about five important reasons to walk and the impact it can have – including sustainability, inclusion, health, mindfulness and friendship.

Families are encouraged to walk, wheel, cycle, scoot or ‘Park and Stride’ for the whole week to see the big differences that come from small steps - from healthier and happier children to fewer cars outside the school gates.

From Easter until the end of the summer holidays, the Centrebus ZOO bus service will operate during weekends and school holidays. The service will run every 90 minutes from Luton Parkway, through Dunstable and into Whipsnade Zoo.

To make your trip to the Zoo even better, they are offering a 50% admission ticket discount if you’ve travelled by bus.

The Big Walk and Wheel will be running from Monday 11 March to Friday 22 March and all schools are invited to take part.

Pupils, teachers, and parents across Central Bedfordshire will be encouraged to walk, wheel, or jump on their bikes and scooters for the 2024 challenge.

Now in its fifteenth year, Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel inspires pupils to make active journeys to school, improve air quality where they live, and help them to discover how these changes benefit their world.

The challenge is free to take part and there are daily prizes to be won. The idea is to persuade pupils, teachers, and parents to leave their cars at home and choose active travel for their school journey.

Register at Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel 2024