National Bike to School Week

This year, National bike to school week falls on the 28th of September to the 2nd of October and may be the last chance to enjoy outdoor activities before the winter weather arrives. Every year this event takes place to promote healthy living for us and our environment. It encourages parents, students and teachers to think about cycling to school more often, rather than driving everyday unnecessarily if you live locally.

According to We are Cycling UK around 3% of 5-16 year olds cycled to and from school in 2018 and 4% cycled to work in England. With the help of people participating, sharing the event on social media, encouraging friends and family to take part this number can continue to grow.

As we all know, exercise is great for your physical body but it’s also great for your overall well-being, what could be a better form of transport to school than one that is good for your body and mind?

10 Physical and Mental Benefits of Cycling to School

1) Improves cardiovascular system 

2) Exposure to fresh air and vitamin D 

3) Arrive to school with a more active brain

4) Improved joint mobility 

5) Burns body fat

6) Helps battle anxiety, depression, stress and good for your well-being in general

7) Increase of muscle mass 

8) Improves posture 

9) Improves your Sleep

10) Improves your memory

Of course, there are perks outside of your body, all the way from lowering pollution levels to financial benefits.

10 Other Benefits of Cycling to School

1) Better for the environment 

2) Decreases the number of cars on the road, leading to less traffic, especially around school roads

3) Better time management of when to leave for school

4) Cheaper than other forms of transport 

5) Teaches kids independence and responsibility 

6) A fun way to get to school and back

7) Allows kids to build up friendships with other kids cycling to school

8) Helps build up knowledge about the area and improved sense of direction

9) Able to avoid sitting in traffic

10) You don’t have to worry about finding a space to park at school upon arrival 

The best part about the event is anyone can get involved and if you already have a bike its completely free! If you don’t have a bike already it may lead to you buying one and using it for many years to come. This could be as a student who rides at the skatepark every weekend or someone who goes for a long bike ride on a Sunday. Even better yet the charity Sutrans is offering the chance of winning a prize! All you have to do is share photos, videos and messages on your social media accounts, for Facebook just leave #SustransWin, for Instagram or twitter just tag @sustrans for a chance of winning the competition, best of luck!

Although this event only lasts a week there’s still plenty of reason to continue activities outside, check out our blog 6 Benefits Of Fresh Air.