Audit shows more children cycle or walk to school in Guernsey

More schoolchildren are walking and cycling to and from school in Guernsey, according to the Health Improvement Commission.

Its Be Active campaign aims to boost activity across the island.

In a recent audit by schools, 42% of Guernsey primary school pupils travelled actively to school and 47% from school.

Responses were gathered from 1,800 pupils from 19 schools.

The commission said: "Since the last audit, undertaken in October 2021, all schools have seen an increase or equalled their number of pupils travelling actively to school."

Secondary schools also saw an increase since June 2020, which was when the first survey took place.

Alex Costen, an active travel officer, said: "Active travel became much more popular in the lockdowns, and it's reassuring to see that this popularity is continuing to grow."

Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez, president of the Committee for the Environment & Infrastructure, said: "I'm really pleased to see that the Be Active audit has confirmed the strikingly positive change that I've seen on the ground in schools across the island."

Haute Capelles Primary introduced a number of measures to encourage active travel, including a head start for pedestrians and cyclists to leave the site.

Sue Coughlin, head teacher, said: "Our numbers of cyclists has doubled, we now have very young children cycling and an increased number of parents who cycle with their children and continue to work on their bikes."

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