Making the case for walking

Funders offering grants less than £5k often don’t have formal application forms and sending a tailored application letter is often all that is needed. In your letter or application it is a good idea to make the case for funding a project which encourages walking.

Below we have outlined evidence of the benefits of walking across five themes. You may want to tailor your letter to emphasise one or two themes depending on the funding criteria or focus of the trust or foundation.

Health

Children should get 60 minutes of physical activity a day. Walking to school goes a long way to achieving this goal. WOW embeds active behaviours at a young age.

Evidence / Reference
One in three children leave primary school overweight or obese. / (Public Health England. (2016). Patterns and trends in childhood obesity: A presentation ofthe latest data on child obesity.)
79% of boys and 84% of girls fail to meet the minimum daily recommendation of exercise. / (Health and Social Care Information Centre. (2013). Health Survey for England – 2012 [NS])
Children who walk to school are more physically active than those who don’t. They are also more alert, ready to learn, perform better in tests and achieve higher grades than those who are inactive. / Rauner R et al. (2013). Evidence that aerobic fitness is more salient than weight status in predicting standardized math and reading outcomes in fourth- through eighth-grade students. The Journal of Pediatrics. 163(2):344-8.
Department of Health. (2011). Start active, stay active: A report on physical activity for health from the four home countries’ Chief Medical Officers.)
Children who do some form of exercise, especially a walk, before school are happier, healthier and more independent. / NHS Choices. (2015). Benefits of exercise. [online] Available at: [Accessed 2 Jun. 2016].
Fyhri A & Hjorthol R. (2009). Children’s independent mobility to school, friends and leisure activities. Journal of Transport Geography. 17(5)377-384.

Environment and transport

Walking to school reduces the volume of cars on the road at peak times, thereby reducing congestion and making the school gates a safer place.

By reducing car journeys on the school run, WOW contributes to a reduction in the emission of pollutants (Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Oxides, and particulate matter).The reduction in vehicular emissions of air pollutants leads to a cleaner, more pleasant environment for everyone.

WOW addresses this challenge head on by encouraging all pupils who ‘don’t walk but could’ to walk all / part of the way to school at least once a week. The scheme has flexibility for schools to increase the number of walking trips required as more pupils adapt and increase walking journeys.

Evidence / Reference
One in five cars on the road during morning rush hour are taking children to school / Department for Transport. (2011). National Travel Survey: 2010

Education

Each year WOW follows a different theme andis supported with monthly curriculum aligned learning resources. Schools are able to track their own engagement and changing modes of pupil journeys throughout the year by using our online Travel Tracker.

In addition to helping improve road safety skills pupils are encouraged to take ownership of their role by recording their activity on a daily basis with class monitors assisting teaching staff in the classroom.

Community

Walking to school provides children and their families with quality time to talk to one another without the distractions of modern life (electronic devices in the home, concentrating on pedestrians and other road users when driving a car).

By participating in WOW, children begin learning road safety from an early age which set them up to be confident road users as they progress through their whole life school journey.

Economy

Driving children to school means bypassing local shops and businesses. By encouraging children and their families to walk to school WOW increases footfall and can help boost local economies.

Evidence / Reference
An independent economic appraisal by Capital of the project has shown that for every £1 spent – WOW is proven to deliver health and transport benefits worth £4.17 to the wider community. / Capita. (2015). Living Streets Walk to School Outreach Programme: Economic Appraisal.
Report commissioned by Living Streets.

Further information and supporting resources are available at