Miller Homes Helps Little Feet Take Big Steps

Miller Homes is giving pupils from across the UK a helping hand as they step out for Walk to School Week in May.

The leading housebuilder has joined forces with Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking, to sponsor 10 primary schools up and down the country as they take part in Walk to School Week, an initiative which encourages families to leave their cars behind and get outdoors. 

The support provided by Miller Homes for this week long initiative, which will run from 15th to 19th May, will fund challenge packs and help youngsters to become more active, while helping reduce traffic congestion and air pollution.

This year’s theme is ‘city to seaside’ and participants are taken on an imaginary journey from the dramatic skylines of the city to charming coastlines via rolling countryside. 

Miller Homes has been providing high quality family homes for the past 80 years and sustainability is high on the agenda.  As Garry McDonald, Procurement and Sustainability Director at Miller Homes, explains, this was a great reason to get involved in the campaign:

“We are delighted to support Walk to School Week because of the positive impact it has on our communities.  The resource packs given to schools have been designed to spark the imagination and we hope that children will discover that walking is a far more enjoyable way to get to school.

“The walk to school allows children to enjoy their surroundings and really feel part of their local community.  Whenever we build new homes, our teams work hard to ensure the area is enhanced for both new and existing residents.  Our developments are close to public transport and within walking distance of the nearest town or village.  This initiative provides a great opportunity to explore what is on their doorstep.”

The resources are designed to help challenge and encourage children to try walking to school and can be a stepping stone to year-round activity.  Last year, over 14,000 classes took part in Walk to School Week; that’s approximately 400,000 children walking to school.

Each challenge pack contains everything needed to run the five-day walking challenge, including a classroom wall chart, teacher and pupil wall chart stickers, pupil activity diaries, pupil rewards magnets and teacher instructions.

Joe Irvin, Chief Executive at Living Streets said, “It’s wonderful to see Miller Homes generously donating funds to help children in our local communities.

“The majority of children are not getting their recommended 60 minutes of daily exercise.  At Living Streets, we know that encouraging more children to walk to school is one of the best places to start – for now and for the future.

“Walking to school is a free and easy way for children to build exercise into their day.  Plus, physically active children are more alert and ready to learn.”

The schools being support by Miller Homes are;

• Crossgates Primary School, Crossgates
• St Martha's Primary School, Glasgow
• St George’s Church of England Academy, Darlington
• Blyth New Delaval Primary, Blyth
• Leyland St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Preston
• Sandbach Primary Academy, Sandbach
• Stanley Grove Primary School, Wakefield
• Ashbourne Hilltop Infant School, Ashbourne
• Westacre Middle School, Droitwich
• Alton Infant School, Alton

For more information on Walk to School Week, including how to get involved, visit www.livingstreets.org.uk/walktoschool.

Further details on Miller Homes are available at www.millerhomes.co.uk.