St Fillan’s set wheels in motion for School Travel Plan Awards

The wheels have been set in motion to find next year’s winners of the Renfrewshire School Travel Plan Awards.
Pupils at St Fillan’s Primary School, in Houston, helped launch nominations after they were named Travel Planning School of the Year at the first ever awards ceremony this year.
The awards will take place in May next year and will be hosted by Clyde One Breakfast Show host George Bowie, celebrating schools or individual pupils and staff who show real enthusiasm and innovation in promoting sustainable travel.

For the second year running, the full cost of the awards ceremony and prizes will be met through external funding and sponsorship from local businesses.

Councillor Marie McGurk, Convener of Renfrewshire Council’s Environment and Infrastructure Policy Board, said: “Encouraging young people to find alternative ways to travel to school is important for reducing pollution and improving road safety around schools. Walking and cycling also has great health and social benefits for children, including helping them reach the daily recommended level of excercise. By encouraging these good habits at an early age we are setting a great example for them later in life.”

The six award categories are:

– Travel Planning School of the Year
– Best Walking Initiative
– Best Cycling Initiative
– Best School Champion
– Walker of the Year
– Cyclist of the Year

Pupils, teachers and parents are invited to nominate through their school any individual or group who they believe has made a special achievement or has been a great inspiration or role model in terms of greener, healthier travel to school.

Councillor McGurk added: “The 2010 Awards were a great success and recognised some fantastic achievements by our schools. We know that there is a lot of hard work going on across Renfrewshire’s schools on this issue so we are expecting even more nominations this year. The ceremony itself is a great night and a chance to get dressed up and celebrate all that hard work.”

Prizes for the awards include £100 gift vouchers for individual awards and £500 for the school named Travel Planning School of the Year.

Nominations are invited from all Renfrewshire primary schools. Schools can submit as many nominations as they like.