The biggest inter-school event of the year will kick off next week when more than 9,000 youngsters across North and South Tyneside begin a five-week challenge to walk to South Africa in time for the World Cup final.

With the start of the World Cup only two weeks away, the Walk to the World Cup Challenge, involving 32 primary schools across North and South Tyneside, will see 9,300 pupils record the distance they walk to and from school to contribute to their school’s bid to ‘arrive’ in Johannesburg – a distance of more than 6,000 miles (9,400kms).

The initiative is a joint collaboration between the school travel plan and road safety teams at North and South Tyneside Councils to encourage more children and their parents to walk, rather than take the car to school. It is supported by Tyne and Wear’s air quality initiative, Be Air Aware, which has equipped each pupil with a pedometer to measure the distance walked. The Be Air Aware website will also hold details of each school’s progress as they rack up the virtual miles to South Africa.
Kim Questlaw, South Tyneside’s Road Safety Co-ordinator, said World Cup fever meant the youngsters were up for the challenge.

She said: “The World Cup has really fired up children’s imaginations and they’ve been really keen to get involved. We set up Walk to the World Cup to capitalise on this enthusiasm and now they’re set off on their journey to reach Johannesburg in time for the final on 11th July.”

And she believed a South Tyneside Team would be the ultimate winner.

“While this isn’t really a competition, we’ve got some really eager schools south of the Tyne and I’m pretty confident we’ve go the edge over the North Tyneside schools. I think some might even be practising during half term,” she joked.

Cllr Ed Hodson, North Tyneside’s Cabinet member for Environment said the challenge was very achievable.

He said: “This contest has created an exciting incentive for pupils to walk to school and I hope parents will really get behind their children and support each school’s efforts. 6,000 miles is a huge distance, but by collecting individual journeys and adding them all up, the miles soon mount up.
“To reach Johannesburg first, the winning school will have to go the extra mile, and judging by the enthusiasm I’ve seen in North Tyneside’s schools, we’ve got it in the bag,” he added.
However both organisers agreed that it was less about winning and more about taking part and enjoying walking with friends and parents.

Manager of the Be Air Aware initiative, Ed Foster, said Walk to the World Cup was an ideal campaign for improving air quality.

He said: “The morning school run has a large negative impact on our urban air quality, because of the traffic congestion it causes. The more cars we can take off the road at this peak period, the cleaner and healthier the air we breathe will become.

“What’s great about Walk to the World Cup is that it will get parents and children walking consistently for nearly five weeks and hopefully that will be a great habit-forming experience.
“And as a neutral supporter, I’m hoping for a draw – a North and a South Tyneside school arriving on the same day!”

Thirty-two primary schools, 16 in North and South Tyneside, are taking part. In each local authority, schools have been divided into three leagues (six leagues in total):
Minnows – schools up to 199 pupils
Championship – 200-299 pupils
Premier League – more than 300 pupils

The full list of participating schools, divided into their league, is displayed on www.beairaware.co.uk.
The winner of each league – there will be six victors – will each win hundreds of pounds’ worth of football equipment.

School in the Minnow Leagues will be taking in ‘giant steps’: because of their small pupil numbers, their distances will be doubled in order to help them reach the destination on time.

For more information, interview and photo opportunities, contact Sam Dansie or Philippa Morrow on 0191 222 0722
sam.dansie@admiralpr.com; Philippa.morrow@admiralpr.com