Pupils enjoyed a bewitching walk to Hartside Primary School as this year’s MEGA Motion campaign kicked off in scary style.
Olivia Brown, 6, won a MEGA Motion competition to decide on the theme of the special walk and choose her favourite book, Julia Donaldson’s Room on the Broom. As her reward, Olivia and her classmates were joined by the animal-loving witch herself as they walked, cycled and scooted to school. Once there, the pupils enjoyed a magical assembly highlighting the benefits of being active for 60 minutes every day, and all about healthy and environmentally friendly ways of getting to school.
The special day was the first of this year’s Durham County Council backed MEGA Motion scheme which comes under the wider Local Motion campaign promoting sustainable transport throughout south Durham. The campaign aims to encourage children to walk, scoot or ride to school to make them aware of the health and environmental benefits from an early age.
As well as the fun walks, pupils earn points every time they use sustainable travel to get to school, aiming to collect enough points to become MEGA heroes by the end of the year.
Cllr Neil Foster, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for economic regeneration, said: “We’re delighted that MEGA Motion is underway again and we hope the children enjoyed their special day. MEGA Motion is a brilliant scheme that encourages our children, in a fun way, to be healthier and more environmentally friendly every day. ”