This week is Walk to School Week, and Winns is sponsoring four schools in our local area to help them get involved.

We've teamed up with Byker Primary School, Hawthorn Primary school, Kensington Park Primary, and Tyneview Primary providing them with everything they need to make Walk to School Week fun and memorable.

Our sponsorship has ensured that every child at each of these four schools receives special challenge packs, which contain classroom wallcharts, stickers, activity diaries and reward magnets, as well as instructions for teachers to help the kids get the most out of their walks.

Walk to School Week is organised each year by Living Streets, which also creates themed fun challenges for the kids to partake in during their morning and afternoon walks. For example, Tuesday is now 'Shoesday' with everyone encouraged to wear their favourite shoes or decorate a new pair.

“It’s wonderful to see Winn Solicitors generously donating funds to help children in its local community,” says Joe Irvin, Living Streets' Chief Executive. “The majority of children are not getting their recommended 60 minutes of daily exercise. Walking to school is a free and easy way for children to build exercise into their day.

“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. Plus, physically active children are more alert and ready to learn.”

Walking is a fantastic way to get regular exercise, and has many proven health benefits. Not only can it help you to maintain a healthy weight, ward off heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, but it also promotes strong bones and muscles. On top of that, walking often can have an extremely positive effect on mood and mental health.

At Winns, we are committed to promoting better health for children and adults alike, and so sponsoring Walk to School Week for the last three years has been hugely rewarding. It's great to see the children in our local community getting out and taking regular exercise.

Last year saw 400,000 children and their families getting involved, and with a focus on finding different routes, we're sure that 2018's Walk to School Week will be just as popular.