Embargoed until 00:01 20 May 2019

Phoenix Group, Europe's largest life and pensions consolidator, has generously sponsored schools to take part in Walk to School Week (20 – 24 May), the campaign to help more families take to their feet.

Walk to School Week is organised by Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking and takes place during National Walking Month each May.

A generation ago, 70 per cent of people walked to school but it’s since dropped to around half. Walk to School Week aims to help reverse the decline in children walking to school by promoting healthier, cleaner and safer ways for families to do the school run.

Phoenix Group has allocated funds so that schools can receive Walk to School Week resource packs for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 to help get pupils walking.

The resources are designed to help challenge and encourage children to walk to school and can be a stepping stone to year-round activity. Last year, over 14,000 classes took part in Walk to School Week; that’s approximately 400,000 children walking to school.

Pupils from Ark Kings Academy, Birmingham; Woodlands Infant School, Shirley and Coppice Primary School, Birmingham will all benefit from swapping four wheels for two feet.

Joe Irvin, Chief Executive at Living Streets says:

“It’s wonderful to see Phoenix Group generously donating funds to help children in its local community.

“The majority of children are not getting their recommended 60 minutes of daily exercise. At Living Streets, we know that encouraging more children to walk to school is one of the best places to start – for now and for the future.

“Walking to school is a free and easy way for children to build exercise into their day. Plus, physically active children are more alert and ready to learn. I’d encourage everyone to get involved and take part in the walk to school campaign.

” Over half a million pupils took part in Walk to School Week 2018 – and this year is shaping up to be even bigger as Living Streets celebrates its 90th anniversary. Special anniversary Walk to School Week packs are now available for school pupils with activities which will take them on a special walking journey, including spotting some of the measures Living Streets has introduced in its 90 years, such as the zebra crossing.

Classroom packs are suitable for up to 30 pupils and include:

• Teacher guidance and parent information
• One classroom wallchart/pledge poster (double sided)
• Wallchart stickers for pupils and teacher
• 30 pupil activity diaries
• Pupil daily reward stickers

To find out more about Walk to School Week, visit livingstreets.org.uk/wtsw

Notes to editors:

For images or case studies, please contact:

Kathryn Shaw,
Communications and Media Manager, Living Streets.
Kathryn.shaw@livingstreets.org.uk / 020 7377 4914

• Thousands of children across the UK will celebrate the benefits of walking during Walk to School Week (20 – 24 May 2019);
• Walk to School Week is organised by Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking as part of their National Walking Month in May;
• 2019 marks the charity’s 90th anniversary, providing an opportunity to celebrate some of its achievements so far – introducing zebra crossings, speed limits and the driving test;

About Living Streets

We want to create a nation where walking the natural choice for local, everyday journeys. We believe this means progress for everyone.

Our ambition is to get people of all generations to enjoy the benefits that this simple act brings and to ensure all our streets are fit for walking.

For 90 years we’ve been a beacon for walking. In our early days our campaigning led to the UK’s first zebra crossings and speed limits. Now our campaigns and local projects deliver real change to overcome barriers to walking and our groundbreaking initiatives such as the world’s biggest Walk to School campaign encourage millions of people to walk.

Our Walk to School campaign has been going for over 20 years and supports over one million children in 4000 schools to walk more through our WOW year-round walk to school challenge and Walk to School Week, making it one of the UK's leading behaviour change campaigns for young people.

About Phoenix Group

Phoenix Group is Europe's largest life and pensions consolidator, specialising in the acquisition and management of closed life insurance and pension funds – known as heritage books. Phoenix is the largest consolidator of heritage life insurance books in Europe but also runs an open book underpinned by a strategic partnership with Standard Life Aberdeen. The Group is a member of the FTSE100 index, and has over 10 million policies and £226 billion of assets under management – including the recently acquired Standard Life Assurance business. With operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany, the Group has four operating life companies which hold policyholder assets, and a distribution business, SunLife Limited.