Keep taking strides to better health Tough times for pensioners?
Dear Editor Living Streets’Walk to School Week is over for another year and we’d like to thank everyone in Scotland who contributed to making it a massive success.
More than 11,000 pupils in 105 schools in Scotland joined in with pupils across the UK to enjoy the many benefits of walking to school.
We know that schools become healthier and happier places when children walk to school.
The Chief Medical Officer recommends that children are active for 60 minutes a day and walking to school is a free, accessible and easy way for children to contribute to this target.
Despite these benefits, the number of children walking to school is in decline with just 43 per cent of children in Scotland making the journey on foot.
Perth ‘Scootergran’ helped bolster WOW at St Ninian’s Primary in Perth Picture: Angus Finday
At Living Streets, we are the benefits of walking to committed to reversing school all year-round, just visit this decline and are asking livingstreets.org.uk/wow to for town and city leaders to find out more. prioritise making school Once again, a huge thank walking routes safer, to help to you and congratulations to prevent problems associated everyone who took part in with a lack of walking, this year’s Walk to School including childhood obesity Week – with your help we’ll get and air pollution. more children experiencing
Just because the week of a healthy and happy walk to celebration is over, it doesn’t school. mean families have to stop walking.
WOW is our year-round walk to school challenge, so they can continue to experience Stuart Hay Director, Living Streets Scotland Many pensioners like myself will know how difficult it is to balance the budget on a fixed income.
Now Theresa May has pledged in the Conservative Manifesto to scrap Winter Fuel payments for pensioners and remove the‘Triple Lock’that ensures the State Pension rises by either inflation or 2.5 per cent,
Many pensioners will have voted no in the 2014 Independence Referendum in the false hope that being part of the UK guarantees their pensions are safe.
It may be time to think again about any benefits of being part of the UK ruled by this Conservative government. Sylvia Latham Murray Crescent Perth