The Green Heroes eco-group at Henry Fawcett Primary School in Oval, South London ran a series of events in 2021 to raise awareness about the dangers of air pollution and encourage active travel in their school and local community.

Their first event in the autumn term was Car Free Day in September. With the main road outside of the school closed, a variety of activities took place including face painting, live music, and dancing. Cycle Confident also sent their Dr Bike and provided free check-ups for bicycles, while a food bus was also there to teach the community about nutritious food. The event proved to be a success with many of the students joining in!

Headteacher Mrs Persad shared in the school newsletter how she had received ‘’many comments from pupils, staff and parents saying how wonderful the event was. One child told me it was ‘magic’. And it was magical. To see so many happy faces, clearly having a wonderful time, in the sunshine, is something that will live in my memory for a very long time.’’

The local community also had a chance to share their thoughts on why play streets and clean air was important. Read some of their contributions!  

More recently, the school have completed the construction of new bike and scooting parking facilities which will allow more students at Henry Fawcett to safely store their equipment.

Having met Councillor Claire Holland on Clean Air Day in June, the group were invited to Lambeth Council to meet the Madame Mayor Annie Gallop. They had a great discussion on why protecting the environment is important and how it can help their community. This day was a particular highlight for the group, and they enjoyed seeing the council chambers, as well as viewing Lambeth from above.

The group’s last activity of the term was running a road safety comic strip competition. The judges in the group had a hard time deciding the winners but decided to pick a few entries as the competition winners. Instead of prizes, the group chose to celebrate everyone’s entries and the competition by reinforcing the message that everyone is a winner by learning more about road safety and active travel.

They are hopeful that their activities have helped educate their fellow students and local community about the importance of clean air and what they can do to help. While the group is coming to an end at end of term, many of the students shared how they want to continue to be involved in similar activities.

One student said ‘’I want to carry on with something similar in the future because I want the world to have cleaner air’’ and another claimed that ‘’everything that we have learnt is very important and this knowledge needs to be shared with others!’’

The Green Heroes at Henry Fawcett Primary School are supported by Transform Our World Youth Ambassador Alex, whose work is funded by the Ernest Cook Trust.