Over 80 Junior Travel Ambassadors (JTAs) from across the county have come together to celebrate their achievements, promoting road safety and active travel in their school communities.
The event was hosted by Cambridgeshire County Council’s Road Safety team yesterday (Tuesday 23 June) at Cottenham Village Hall.
It was a chance for ambassadors from other schools to meet and take part in games together, whilst also sharing a giant picnic and collecting a goody bag.
JTAs are encouraged to make decisions about what they think needs to change to improve road safety for their school. The role also involves encouraging the school community to get more active and lead healthier lifestyles.
The project has been running since 2015 and this year there are 187 JTAs from 31 primary schools from across the county.
The year 5 pupils - who were chosen to represent their school - run campaigns throughout the school year including Be Bright and Be Seen, Road Safety Week and Big Walk & Wheel.
During their most recent campaign, Walk to School Week, the JTAs got over 7,500 of their fellow pupils walking to and from school.
This year they have been busy holding assemblies, running fun competitions and many of them collaborating with others such as parish councils and local businesses.
Cllr Alex Beckett, Chair of the Highways & Transport Committee, said: "Kids listen to other kids in a way they just don't listen to us grown-ups. When a year 5 pupil tells their friends to walk to school instead of a teacher or parent saying it, it lands completely differently.
"That's what makes the JTAs so brilliant. Getting children thinking about road safety and active travel this young means it sticks with them for life. And when you see 7,500 pupils walking to school in a single week because of a campaign their own classmates ran, you can see exactly why it works.
"It's brilliant to see so many Junior Travel Ambassadors coming together to celebrate everything they've achieved this year. They should be proud of themselves because they've genuinely made a difference.”
Maree Richards, Road Safety Officer and coordinator of the project said: “The celebration event was very much a fun day and a way of us thanking all the JTAs for their hard work, but most importantly it is great for them to meet each other.
“Their voices are powerful and they are all amazingly enthusiastic and a great inspiration.”
For more information about Junior Travel Ambassadors please contact road.safety@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
