Active Travel award for Croesty Primary

Croesty Primary has become the latest school in Bridgend County Borough to earn the Bronze Active Travel Award from Sustrans Cymru in honour of the way pupils and parents are choosing two wheels over four to make the daily school run.

The number of children who usually travel to school by car has fallen by 23 per cent over the last two years.

During the same period of time, the percentage of pupils cycling to school has quadrupled from six per cent to 24 per cent, while there has been a surge in the percentage of pupils scooting to school – up from two per cent to 26 per cent.

The school has a group of enthusiastic pupils who promote the benefits of Sustran Cymru’s Active Journeys programme among their classmates, while the school celebrate ‘Wheelie Wednesday’ every week to encourage pupils to cycle or scoot more and have also held ‘Glitz your bike’ and ‘Glitz your scooter’ days where youngsters can add a bit of bling to their wheels!

Thanks to successful grant applications from Bridgend County Borough Council, more than £1.5m worth of Active Travel improvements have been made in Pencoed over the past three years.

The investment has gone into numerous road safety measures such as creating several new paths that can be shared by walkers and cyclists.

Active Travel will be further boosted in the area by the recent announcement that Bridgend County Borough Council has been awarded an additional £500,000 of Welsh Government funding to construct an off-road route for pedestrians and cyclists along Coychurch Road in Pencoed to complete the link between Coychurch and Pencoed Comprehensive School. Work on the scheme starts in late October and will be completed before the end of March 2019.

Roger Dutton, Sustrans Schools Officer, said: “The significant reduction in the number of Croesty pupils who usually come to school by car confirms that our Active Journeys programme and the improved safe routes network in Pencoed are making a difference.

“If it’s possible to leave your car at home for the school run then doing so is not only beneficial for the environment and your children’s health, but it also energises them".

Well done to the Croesty pupils on achieving this award. Their enthusiasm for Active Travel is infectious and it’s wonderful to see that better access to safe and convenient routes is having such an impact

One of the most notable improvements made in Pencoed recently to facilitate Active Travel was the creation of a ‘glow in the dark’ path through the Woodlands playing fields.

Because it’s made of a particular surface, it harnesses UV light during the day and then gives off a gentle light to help make the route visible in the dark. It’s a creative way of encouraging Active Travel which will really come into its own as we approach the winter months.

Councillor Richard Young, the council’s Cabinet Member for Communities,