What is WoW?
WoW (Walk Once a Week) is a simple and effective scheme that encourages parents and pupils to walk to school at least once a week throughout the school year. Schools and local authorities can buy sets of themed badges from us (amongst other resources) – one for each month of the academic year.
WoW is the largest regular walk to school reward scheme in the world with over 212,000 pupils currently taking part.
Children record how they travel to school and if they walk at least four times a month, they receive a badge, all of which are highly collectable. The badges run from September to July and are designed by the children themselves in a national competition which runs across the UK). Living Streets sets a theme each year, this academic year it is Nature in the UK. View WoW resources here.
Simply put- yes! In a recent report , just under a fifth of pupils surveyed, reported that they started walking because of WoW (Wavehill, 2009). Every London Borough takes part in WoW and 212,000 pupils take part in England alone. Evidence suggests that implementing the scheme leads to a significant number of children changing the way they get to school, from being dropped off in the car to walking.
For more on what WoW can do for you, including hitting National Indicator targets, download the 'Why WoW?' PDF.
How do I start WoW?
It’s easy to get started with WoW. We have created a step by step guide which can be downloaded here:
If you are a teacher or a parent and would like to start WoW for the first time, we recommended that you get in touch with your local School Travel Team (who sit within your local council)first, to find out if they already take part in the scheme and can provide you with resources.
If they don't take part in WoW, you can view our resources and purchase them directly from us online, simply visit this page and fill in an order form.
You could tell your local School Travel Team about WoW (or encourage them to visit the website here ), or let us know and we can provide them with more information about the benefits.
If you have any queries about getting started with WoW, please get in touch: email: walktoschool@livingstreets.org.uk or ring 020 7377 4900
