Taylor Wimpey helps to encourage Primary One pupils in West Lothian to walk to school
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In support of October’s International Walk to School month this year. Taylor Wimpey has donated high visibility snap bands to Primary One pupils at St Joseph’s Primary in Whitburn and St Paul’s Primary East Calder. The annual initiative, organised by UK charity Living Streets, aims to encourage families to leave the car at home and walk to school safely. Further donations are planned for East Calder Primary School and Polkemmet Primary School.
According to research by Living Streets, less than half of all school children are currently walking to school, a drop from 70% a generation ago.* The research also found that children who exercise before school arrive refreshed and ready to learn and Helen Torsney, Head Teacher at St Paul’s Primary, agrees: “It’s really important to us that our pupils are happy and engaged when they arrive at school and walking is a great way for them to start the day. We want to encourage children and their parents to walk to school and the high visibility snap bands donated by Taylor Wimpey will help our Primary Ones to do this more safely.”
Mrs Burns, Head Teacher at St Joseph’s Primary adds: “As well as promoting a healthy lifestyle to students, walking to school is also a huge help in reducing the volume of traffic outside school, thereby making the area safer for all. I would like to say a big thank you to Taylor Wimpey for this donation and for their help in raising awareness of Walk to School Month among our Primary one pupils and their parents. This is a fun and informative way to engage our children in getting active safely. Many of our children already walk to school and using the high-viz bands will certainly brighten up their journey to and from school whilst also helping to keep them safe.”
Karen Armstrong, Sales and Marketing Director for Taylor Wimpey East Scotland, says: “International Walk to School Month is a fantastic initiative and we are proud to be supporting it again this year. We hope that our donation of snap bands to four primary schools near our developments in West Lothian will help to encourage children to lead a healthy lifestyle, while staying safe on their walk to school.”
Taylor Wimpey has donated over 65,000 snap bands to school children around the UK since 2014 as part of its commitment to giving back to the local communities in which it builds.
Broxburn United’s Youth Team scores a local sponsorship from us
The boys, aged 10 and 11, play in the West Lothian 7-a-side ‘A’ league from their base at Albyn Sports Centre in Broxburn. Away games take the team to some key West Lothian locations where we have new or established developments including Bathgate, East Calder and Heartlands. Our donation has funded new strips for the youngsters.
Commenting on the support it has received, Graham Mckendrick, Coach from Broxburn United 2008’s said: “We are thrilled to receive this support from Taylor Wimpey East Scotland and we are grateful for their continued support for initiatives like ours in the local community. I would like to say a huge thank you to the regional team in Dunfermline.”
Karen Armstrong, Sales and Marketing Director said: “We are delighted to be supporting this young local community football club with a donation to provide new strips, and we were really proud to hear that the boys had the opportunity to show-off their new strips on a football trip to Barcelona where they finished 7th in the competition.
“The work we do is a lot more than just building high-quality homes. Being able to work with local community groups and organisations that surround our developments means a great deal to us. We hope that our involvement with Broxburn United 2008’s will bring the team lots of luck in future matches.”