• Welcome to this assembly about Free Your Feet, the week-long walking challenge for secondary schools from UK charity Living Streets. • Who are Living Streets? A walking charity that’s on a mission to make our streets more walkable and encourage walking. • Schools all over the country are taking part. • I’m going to tell you about how walking a bit could make a difference to your life, how the Free your Feet challenge works and how you could win £50.

• Free Your Feet is happening in this school this week. • If you already walk to school then great, keep doing it. • If you don't we'd like to challenge you to try walking next week. • Different things work for different people depending on where you live or how you get to school. • Who already walks to school? HANDS UP NB the national average is 36%, are we doing better or worse than average at the moment? • Put your hand up if you live too far to walk, but could walk some of the way to school, for instance getting on a bus one stop later, or getting a lift part of the way? IS THIS NEARLY EVERYONE? IT SHOULD BE! If you are a wheelchair user, this also counts as walking. We want every student to be able to walk, ideally on their school journey. But if you come to school by taxi or other people decide how you travel to school, you can still take part in Free Your Feet. Talk to your school about what extra walking you could do, as part of the school day. Fifteen minutes lunchtime walking will give you all the health benefits of walking to school • Walking is great for you and we’ll talk about how in a minute, but first a little incentive…

• If you don't already walk we'd like you to give it a go. • That's why we're giving away a £50 voucher to one student at this school who walks at least once. Or   Your school’s £50 prize will be divided between X number of students, so you have X more chances to win. • It’s simple, we’ll explain at the end of the presentation.

There are so many good reasons to walk There are so many good reasons to walk. We’re going to give you a quick intro to some of them now. It might sound obvious but walking is a really good easy form of exercise. How long do you think it would take to walk one mile? 5 minutes? 15? 45?

• It will take most people about 15-20 minutes. • And it’s a great way to help you keep in shape. • You'll probably notice the difference in how alert you are when you get to school if you’ve walked even some of the way.

• It’s good for you all round • It’s good for you all round. It’s good for your heart and it keeps you alert and in shape. • Who here’s ever felt more awake having walked than after spending time in a stuffy car?

You probably knew that exercise or walking is good for your health, but did you know that walking is really good for your mind – it gives it time to unwind. • It’s been scientifically proven to improve your mood. • It makes sense because a walk wakes up your brain. • Isn’t it worth a shot?

• If there are any scientists in the room why not conduct your own experiment. Take note of your mood as you leave home and then again when you arrive after walking. • After Living Streets Free Your Feet week assess your results. Were you happier? Was there an improvement in mood on the days that you walked? • Walking home can also be a great way to unwind and clear your head after school.

Walking can also be a really sociable activity. • If you walk to school you could try to arrange to meet friends and walk some of the way together. • Then you could use that time to catch up from the day before, or chat about last night’s telly and the walk and time will fly by.

• SEE, it even saves you phone credit. • Put your phone down and let your feet do the walking.

• How many people here care about the planet & pollution? • If you replace your car or bus journey with a walk you’ll be getting rid of rush hour traffic and that’s huge.

• Taking car journeys off the road is a really smart way to help the planet. • It’s simple and it’s win win. • You’re healthier and the planet’s healthier. • For every car you can get off the road you’ll be helping to reduce the amount of CO2, the global warming gas, in the atmosphere. What’s not to like? • How many people here suffer from asthma? • With fewer pollutants in the air, you’ll be helping to prevent smog, and helping everyone to breathe easier on their way to school.

• Is anyone surprised by how much traffic increases around school arrival and leaving times? • How does so much traffic make you feel? • Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone walked and there was much less traffic on the roads? Would you feel safer?

• Walking is great thinking time. • Have you noticed that the moment your legs begin to move, your thoughts begin to flow. • A lot of great writers have famously gone on walks to help think through ideas. • Walking is free and gives you some time to yourself for your own thoughts before school. • If the average walk to school is 15-20 minutes that's time for you and the things that matter to you. • Who knows what you could dream up with more than 3 hours a week of extra thinking time

• Imagine all the things you could think about on your way to school. • Solve a problem. Think through a project that’s coming up. Plan your holidays or what you’re wearing to a party. Plan a weekend with mates. Dream up your next big idea. Decide how you to spend your £50 win!

• Hopefully, now you’re all inspired to give walking a go. • Here’s a quick recap of what you need to do. • We’re giving away a £50 voucher to one student at this school who walks at least once next week. If you'd like to be in with a chance, all you need to do is record your walking on a postcard you'll be given. • Hand that postcard in at the end of the week and you'll be part of a prize draw to win a £50 voucher. • Everyone who takes part has an equal chance of winning, it doesn't matter how much you walked. As long as you took part you could win.

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