News Alert |

The City of Ballarat has joined forces with VicHealth to encourage more families to ditch the car and instead walk, ride or scoot to school throughout October.  

The annual Walk to School program, which aims to encourage families to get active on the trip to and from school, to help build healthy habits for life, begins on 7 October.  

The City of Ballarat is encouraging local primary schools to register at the Walk to School website - walktoschool.vic.gov.au  

The City of Ballarat will this year run a range of initiatives in partnership with local schools, including healthy breakfasts, colouring competitions and active travel mapping workshops. There are some great prizes up for grabs and participating schools will receive a fruit box delivery. 

Students are also encouraged to put their creativity on show by decorating their shoes, bikes and scooters. 

By sharing your children’s designs (videos or photos) on the Walk to School Facebook page throughout October and tagging @WalktoSchool with the hashtag #walktoschool they will be in the running for some great prizes through VicHealth.      The Walk to School program is free. Local schools taking part in this year’s Walk to School program will be in the running to win specialised AFL Footy Clinics with an AFL or AFLW player.  

City of Ballarat Mayor Cr Samantha McIntosh says the 2016 Census shows there are more than 40,000 families living in Ballarat and of that number there are approximately 10,000 young people aged between 5-9 years.

“It would be fantastic to see as many of these young people as possible choosing to walk to school or walking part-way to school throughout October," Cr McIntosh says.

“Getting active is more fun when we do it together, so let’s support our young people and help create a more active community.”  

For more information visit walktoschool.vic.gov.au