Putting brakes on car use wins awards for active youngsters in Borders

Shields have been presented to the 10 schools in the region with the highest percentages of pupils getting there walking, cycling or using scooters as part of this year’s Scottish Borders Council Active School Travel Awards.

One primary was chosen as a winner from each of the region’s nine clusters, and the overall secondary school winner was Hawick High School for the seventh year in a row.

They were picked using information from a nationwide survey collated by Sustrans and published by the Scottish Government.

The winning primaries were those at Coldstream, Eyemouth, Walkerburn and St Boswells, along with Langlee Primary at Galashiels, Burnfoot Community School in Hawick, Parkside Primary at Jedburgh, Broomlands Primary at Kelso cluster and Knowepark Primary in Selkirk.

The council’s executive member for roads and infrastructure, Selkirkshire councillor Gordon Edgar, said: “It is fantastic to see so many pupils, school staff and parents making significant efforts to take part in and encourage active travel to schools right across the Borders.

“As a council, we are encouraging people to be more energy-efficient, and these awards should instil in our young people the importance of reducing your carbon footprint, as well as getting some exercise through actively travelling to school.

“Congratulations to all the schools who took part.

“I look forward to another year of active travel by our schools throughout the Borders.”

Pupils from all but two of the winning schools, Parkside and Eyemouth primaries, attended an award presentation at the council’s Newtown headquarters.