Local #NorthEdinburgh men, local walks, meet local:
Pilton Community Health Project at 73 Boswall Parkway just round the corner from Royston Wardieburn Community Centre!
10:30 on Thursday this week
The Daily Mile Foundation, Living Streets Scotland, Paths for All, and the Active Nation Commissioner, in partnership with the Scottish Government, are calling on families to reclaim the joy in everyday movement on the journey to school.
As schools return after months of being closed, the return of primary pupils to schools in Scotland is an opportunity for children and families to start the day active and energised, by choosing to make the journey by walking, wheeling, skipping, scooting or cycling instead of by private car.
The call is supported by a range of sport, health and physical activity organisations and is part is a strategic approach by the Scottish Government to support active journeys to school.
The campaign supports Scotland’s ambition to become the first Daily Mile Nation, and the Scottish Government’s Clear Your Head campaign by encouraging families to connect and chat with others on an active school run.
Over the last year, many families rediscovered the joy of getting outside and walking, cycling and exploring their local areas.
During lockdown the number of adults visiting the outdoors at least once a week had increased to 80% by August 2020.
These increases are also seen on the journey to school: in September 2020 more than half of pupils in Scotland walked, cycled or scooted to school, and the number of pupils walking to school increased by 3.8% on the previous year. With active travel at its highest level for ten years, families have an opportunity to lock in the benefits of an active journey to school.
Mairi Gougeon, Minister for Public Health and Sport said: “I’m a keen runner and walker and even if I can only fit in a quick ten minutes around the block in the morning it has such a positive impact on my day.
“It’s been great to see the increase in walking running, cycling and scooting and we should build on these positive habits so that they become a routine part of the day. Not only do these activities have many benefits for our physical and mental health, they can also improve our environment.”
Lee Craigie, Scotland’s Active Nation Commissioner said: “It’s time for a cultural shift in how we undertake our everyday short journeys, in particular the school run.
“Instead of this daily journey continuing to be a stressful chore that clogs our streets and lungs with vehicles and their emissions, we must all play our part in creating the sort of environments where children (and their parents and teachers) can start their day with fresh air and exercise.
“When walking, cycling, scooting and wheeling to school becomes the norm for everyone, we embed healthy, sustainable, fair travelling behaviours in our communities.”
Families should adhere to social distancing rules and wear face coverings at the school gates.
To create more space for safe interactions and social distancing, schools and local authorities can consider implementing traffic-free school streets during the busiest times.
Bottles of fresh air from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are being marketed as the perfect gift for homesick Britons living overseas this Christmas.
Relocation website My Baggage is offering fresh air bottled from the four home nations for £25 each and claim the bottles are already being snapped up by families with loved ones living abroad – in a bid to remind them of home and possibly tempt them back to our shores.
The company is also offering special limited edition bottles featuring air captured on the London Underground and air from the inside of a busy Norfolk fish and chip shop.
Each 500ml of air comes with a cork stopper so the owners can open for a moment, take a breath and quickly close again, allowing many weeks or even months of use.
My Baggage is also willing to fulfil special customer requests by bottling air from any UK location, and have already fulfilled an order of air from the misty summit of Snowdonia for a homesick Welshman living down under.
The company, which helps thousands of Britons to relocate to other countries each year, claims their bottled air offers Brits living overseas the chance to reconnect with home by purchasing authentic UK air to remind them of home.
They decided to launch their bottled air range following research which linked our sense of smell to emotional memories.
They said that while many UK residents hanker after a new exciting life in another country relocating leaves some pining for home.
The hope is that a bottle of air from one of our home nations will ease homesickness and make settling into a new country that much easier.
But they also said they were seeing orders for the bottles as Christmas gifts from parents keen to tempt their sons and daughters back to the UK.
A spokesman said: “Many Brits have a dream of moving abroad and the exciting thing about our work at My Baggage is that we help make those dreams come true.
“But we know from our customer feedback that a small but significant number of Britons who move abroad do experience homesickness.
“We wanted to help them reconnect with home and we know from published research that our sense of smell is very evocative when it comes to emotions.
“By allowing recipients to take a deep breath of the air from their home country we’re hoping to ease homesickness and help them settle into their new life, wherever that may be.
“At the moment the majority of orders are coming from parents and loved ones of Brits who have moved abroad. A bottle of fresh air from home is the perfect gift for a family member who is living overseas – and it might even entice them back home.
“The smells Britons miss might surprise some. Orders for the fish and chip shop air have been strong while the London Underground air is one of our best sellers and seems to be popular with ex-commuters who perhaps want to remind themselves of what they’re missing.”
My Baggage have created a special product page on their website where visitors can find out all about the air. Please visit: https://www.mybaggage.com/shipping/air/
