Hundreds of Leeds pupils show wheel enthusiasm for Big Pedal school commute challenge

Pupils across Leeds, Yorkshire and nationwide took part in sustainable transport charity Sustrans’ Big Pedal competition in a bid to cut air pollution and encourage active school commutes.

Youngsters at West End Primary School in Horsforth were among those to take part last month and won the coveted Yorkshire one-day primary schools challenge.

Over the two weeks children across Yorkshire made 104,251 journeys to school by bicycle or scooter as part of the Big Pedal, covering more than 274,000 miles.

Rosslyn Colderley, Sustrans’ director in the North of England, said: “School children across Yorkshire and the Humber have made heroic efforts to beat air pollution this year and really demonstrated what a massive difference they can make by cycling or scooting to school.

“The Big Pedal gives us an idea of what could be achieved if there were more safe routes to schools and training to develop cycling and scooting for children’s transport.”

The Big Pedal was organised by Sustrans and funded by the Bike Hub.

For further information on the annual initiative visit bigpedal.org.uk or sustrans.org.uk.