– Giant walking bus was made up of nearly 300 pupils from Latymer All Saints CE Primary School
– School children promoted the benefits of walking and learned about road safety
– Enfield is committed to cutting road accidents and making town centres safe for all

Edmonton was treated to a wondrous sight on Wednesday (3 May) after a walking parade of nearly 270 children made its way through the area to promote the benefits of walking and raise awareness of traffic dangers.

The Giant Walking Bus was made up of pupils from Latymer All Saints CE Primary School, Hydethorpe Avenue, with an aim of improving road safety, boosting the number of children who walk to school and making all road users more aware of pedestrians.
Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Daniel Anderson, who joined the young troops as they set off on their journey, said: “This fantastic initiative is about getting kids to see the significant benefits of walking whilst learning how to navigate our streets safely.

“We’d therefore ask parents to consider walking their youngsters to school rather than driving them. Not only does this help unclog our roads, it will also help to create confident, road aware children.”

Walking to school is a small, but hugely beneficial way of reducing congestion. According to the U.K. charity for everyday walking, Living Streets, one in five cars on the road during the morning peak traffic times is taking a child to school.

A variety of initiatives are in place in Enfield to support road safety ranging from 20 mile per hour zones around schools, to free cycling lessons for adults and children and road safety schemes to prevent accidents.

The pupils, accompanied by Cllr Anderson, teachers, volunteers, police and members of Enfield Council’s Road Safety Team walked from the school’s gates all the way to Jubilee Park before heading back again. The children held posters describing the walking bus and with slogans about road safety.