Modeshift Training Day

Alison is heading to the dizzy heights of Bristol tomorrow for a training seminar. The event is being organised by Modeshift an organisation set up to support sustainable and active travel for young people and school communities by supporting those who are working with them to achieve these goals.

The day promises to be enlightening, spent sharing best practice on using arts and media to promote sustainable travel messages. Its a great forum for like minded professionals to share ideas in how to achieve sustainable travel.

Lunch boxes

Lunch Boxes - much has been in the press recently about healthy eating and what are we putting in the children's lunch boxes. Why not grab one of our super new sports bottle, so that you know that they have sufficient fluids to keep them going until its time to fill up again.

These super new sports bottles fit really well into our hi visibility rucksacks which can be used by both children and adults alike. So lets all get healthy together!!

Co-operative Walking Bus Scheme

Its amazing the number of Walking Bus schemes that have emerged over the last few years. It definitely seems to be a response to the media and concerns over healthy life styles. Schemes seem to be popping up all over the place as schools are recognising the need to encourage more children to walk to school.


The Co-operative group has become actively involved and made it one of their causes where by they are offering schools walking bus packs if they are located close to a Co-operative Group Store.


So get in touch with the Co-op and together we can all do our bit and get more children walking to school.

Brake to Thank Supporters at Westminster Reception

Another trip down to the ol' smoke tomorrow as I'm heading to road safety charity Brake's Annual Reception at the Houses of Parliament.



We'll be finding out their plans for the year ahead and meeting up with other businesses which support Brake's aims.



They'll be announcing the winners of the 2009 Road Safety Parliamentarian of the year Awards (ie an MP who has been super supportive of road safety initiatives and deserves a good pat on the back) and Volunteer of the Year.



It will be good to meet up with like-minded people... and of course I'm also looking forward to the canapes!

Blue Monday

Apparently today is officially Blue Monday so here are 4 reasons why it shouldn't be classed as that.

• The weather feels positively tropical
• The snow has gone so walking to school much easier with the children
• We've passed the shortest day so the nights are drawing out
  
• OK its Monday but only 4 more days then its the weekend!!

So throw off those Monday morning blues and get out and about in something bright and cheerful.

Peppa Pig Buckles Up

The production team for cartoon character Peppa Pig have decided to draw in seat belts and other safety features following complaints from parents. See the BBC article.

Reducing speed limits in villages

What do you think to a 20mph speed limit around villages? A report from the charity Living Streets shows that 1 in 5 parents say they would be more likely to let their children walk to school if speed was reduced. A further study undertaken by Hull City Council shows that following the introduction of a reduced speed limit, the council saw a 74% reduction in the number of child pedestrian casualties.

To make this more achievable, under Department for Transport proposals, these lower limits can be introduced without the need for traffic calming measures which makes the whole scheme more attractive.

Healthier ways of getting to School

National Modeshift Conference - last year Brightkidz attended this conference in Glasgow which was a big get together for all the school travel professionals. It was a very informative and inspiring meeting when like minded people gathered, looking at ways of encouraging school children to walk to school, this could be achieved with Park and Stride, Walking Bus schemes.

One brilliant scheme being run by Buckingham County Council is scootering skills to get youngsters enjoying a healthier way of getting to school - what an inspiring and simple new scheme.

10 Reasons to Walk to School in the Snow

1. No need to scrape the car windscreen.
2. It's a bit more effort but think of all those extra calories you're burning... bye bye mince pies.
3. There's less traffic around and it's probably slower.
   
4. You can be detectives with footprints in the new snow - count the pairs of smaller footprints to see how many children have already been your way. Spot the paw-prints too.
5. You can carry your bags on a sledge.
   
6. It's easier to see dog poo on the pavements... and avoid it!
   
7. You'll see your city/town/village in a new light... pretty like a Victorian Christmas card scene.
8. It may even be quicker than going by car.
   
9. You can look out for the longest icicle (best once the thaw sets in). Clue: houses with low roofs and broken gutters are great for these.
10. If you get to school and it's closed, at least the kids will see their friends and find out 'the place to be' for snowballing and poly-bagging. Enjoy yourselves!
    

Promotional Merchandise

Promotional Merchandise - so what is this you may ask? Its not just those free pens you pick up at an exhibition or event but in fact any printed item used to promote a brand, campaign or organisation.

So if you think our cute, funky reflectors are solely about being safe and seen, think again....they are also an eye-catching way to promote any message, club or group.

New Year, New Beginnings

A happy New Year to one and all. So how are every one's New Year resolutions going? How about adopting the government initiative on reducing your carbon footprint by cycling to work twice a week - not only would you be doing your bit for the environment but also helping to work off that Christmas pud! There are many ways that people can get involved; sharing a lift to work, making one less car journey a week.

Anyone who has read my cycling blog (I'm afraid I haven't kept it up - but how's this for a resolution on the fly - I'll do a monthly update!) will know that I started cycling to work a few years ago. I'm afraid to say the weather has put me off a bit lately. However at BrightKidz we do try to car share wherever possible. Even without the threat of global warming the green revolution makes sense. It is patently obvious that we live on a planet with dwindling resources. Sooner or later we'd be forced to be a bit more careful with our resources. The global warming debate has really focussed our attention. Even if global warming all turns out to be 'hot air' (pardon the pun) the world will be a better place when we are all green.

Christmas holidays!! - Christmas is virtually upon us and we're all getting very excited. If you need any last minute gifts, a snowflake reflector to pop into that stocking, we are here until 3pm on Wednesday, shut until the 29th of December, then there will be reduced office cover 29th - 31st of December. We will be back to work bright and early on Monday 4th of January getting ready to break all those New Year's resolutions!!

All that remains is to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. See you in 2010!

New Clearance Section - everyone loves a bargain don't they? We've just introduced a "Clearance Section" to our Website. You'll find lots of products which are either end-of-line, design change or end of season with at least 20% off. Take a look at our ghost reflectors which currently have 20% off the RRP.

University of Northampton launches social entrepreneurship degree

I have just learned through the SEEM (Social Enterprise East Midlands) newsletter that 'the University of Northampton has become one of the first universities in the UK to launch a degree in social enterprise'. The course fact sheet begins with a quote

“We don't hire people to bake brownies; we
bake brownies to hire people"
Guiding principles of Greyston Bakery, who make
brownies for Ben and Jerry’s Icecream

I like that. Social enterprises are businesses with a social aim. For them the people come first. The business arises out of the need. It's not just about making money. This is one of the themes I covered in my presentation at the university. We started our enterprise as Safe Kids Walking with the aim of promoting walking to school. To rephrase the above quote "we don't promote walking to school to sell high vis; we sell high vis to promote walking to school"