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Walking milestone in Australia
Wednesday June 11th 2008. Posted: 09:02
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A walking bus scheme in Australia could have a global reach
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Children who take part in a “walking bus" to school in Australia every day have achieved a major milestone and - thanks to BT - may soon find their path stretches halfway around the world.
BT Global Services corporate social responsibility representative Carolyn Macpherson - who is based in Melbourne - is involved in a walk-to-school scheme at Craigieburn South Primary school in Victoria, where children are celebrating walking a total of 900km since the scheme started. Now, Carolyn - through BT - has identified an opportunity to extend the walking bus benefits even further. She said: “I first saw a walking bus in Switzerland in 2002, and thought it was the best thing I’d seen.” In a walking bus, volunteer adult "drivers" shepherd their young "passengers" on foot to school, promoting health and fitness while reducing car use. Carolyn said: “I got involved in our local walking bus when my children entered prep school and my husband put up his hand to volunteer - we were the first bus set up in our council precinct. “When I was reading the spring edition of BT Better World e-zine I came across Glyn Stacey - a BT environment manager - who has recently become a walking school bus driver for his school in the UK, and I thought there could be a sensational opportunity to bring together not only BT people, but also children from across the globe.” Glyn’s bus, in Staffordshire, is the pilot project for the school his two sons attend. He said: “It’s going so well that we’ve increased from just one day when the project started to three. “And we’ve noticed that a larger number of children in the school are walking and cycling to school, even if they are not part of the bus - so it’s making people think about the issues in a wider sense.” Carolyn’s idea is for the children in her and Glyn’s walking buses to link up as pen pals. But she also sees even wider implications. She said: “I’m hoping there’s a possibility of forming a joint carbon club between the schools. I also see a great marketing opportunity down the track with BT supporting carbon clubs in primary schools around the world, helping the children to understand climate change, and how what they do can have a beneficial effect on the whole planet.”
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Last updated:
11:55