PUPILS from a pair of Basingstoke schools were encouraged to walk to school with their parents as an annual event returned. 

Hatch Warren Infant School held its Park and Stride event on Thursday, October 20, the first since the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020.

Joined by students from Hatch Warren Junior School, the event saw children walk to the school gates accompanied by their parents after parking at the nearby Portsmouth Arms Pub.

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The event allows parents to drop their children off at school without using a car and means that even busy parents can still walk their children to school.

Basingstoke Gazette: Credit: Hatch Warren Infants SchoolCredit: Hatch Warren Infants School (Image: Hatch Warren Infants School)Hatch Warren Infants School teacher Julia Mackenzie said: “We are trying to encourage students to walk to school as much as possible, but we’re quite aware that parents have to drive and have to go to work.

She continued: “So, parents are able to park at the Portsmouth Arms pub, because it’s not open that morning, and then they walk down Hatch Warren Lane, and walk into school that way.

“So, they get to have some active travel and parents get to have somewhere to park that’s not clogged up out the front of the school, so it’s a bit of a win-win for everybody.”

Thirty students took part in Park and Stride, which was supported by travel awareness campaign My Journey Hampshire.

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My Journey Hampshire provided various goodies for the children, including reflectors and slapbands, and gave the students the opportunity to meet My Journey Hampshire’s mascot, Basil the parrot.

Basingstoke Gazette: Credit: Hatch Warren Infants SchoolCredit: Hatch Warren Infants School (Image: Hatch Warren Infants School)Julia continued: “Despite the weather [the children] had a brilliant time, and they were very, very pleased to meet Basil, who they decided was a green chicken, rather than a parrot!

“They had a fab time.”

My Journey Hampshire is a travel awareness campaign delivered by local councils and partners that aims to help Hampshire residents get around more easily, using a range of different travel choices and options.