About Us
Making the school run safer and greener for every family.
We're an award winning, parent-led charity that works with families and local authorities to turn the school run into a healthier, more sustainable journey for everyone.
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Clear Data
We gather easy-to-understand facts to guide practical action and shape better travel policies
Practical Solutions
From chaperoned minibuses and community cargo bikes to the country's most ambitious School Street, we champion proven ways to make schools journeys safer and more sustainable.
Community Action
We bring people together to improve their school journeys, building a cleaner, healthier future for families.
WHAT DO WE WANT?
We want children to be independent, not car dependent. We want to see infrastructure change and behaviour change that enable walking and cycling to school to be safe. We want to see transport options developed that provide families with convenient and practical options for school journeys that aren't reliant on cars. These include...
Community cargo bikes
MOre SChool BUSES
safe crossings
REGULAR dATA Tracking
School Streets
BETTER public transport
Controlled parking around schools
EXPANDED CONGESTION CHARGING
safe walking & CYcling routes
20MPH SPeed limits
staffed bike & WALKING buses
sAFE bike storage for families
who we are
Our founders and day to day team members are below. You can find out about our fantastic trustees on the Charity Commission website.
A campaigner, environmental psychologist and ex-journalist, Claire has spent the last five years using her communication skills to campaign and work on cleaner, healthier cities. She lives and works in South East London.
Nicola Pastore
Nicola has 3 young children and became activated to tackle road danger and pollution whilst trying to keep them safe on their short daily walk to school. She has in depth expertise in data analytics having spent over 15 years finance and analysis roles in industry and consulting.
Our Story
When we (Nicola & Claire) first met we both had children at the same primary school. We shared concerns about the high level of traffic around the school, which affected our children's safety and freedom, as well as polluting the air they were breathing in.
And so the obsession with the school run began.
We began a 5 year school street campaign around our local school and programs to encourage active travel. We got stuck in, with termly bike buses and weekly walking buses. We had awareness-raising stalls at the school summer fair, organised air pollution monitors and active travel obstacle courses.
We became very aware of the huge fluctuation in traffic jams on local roads when nearby private schools weren’t in session, and researched why this might be the case. We found out that the school run is unique, in both the volume of car trips it generates and the tight time frames these happen in. It is the interplay of both these factors has huge impacts on congestion and pollution levels in cities.
But far from being despondent, this gave us hope! Unlike a lot of other traffic, we know where school journeys are going (to schools) and with pupil catchment information… we know where they are starting. In theory it's a solvable problem! We used our expertise in data analysis to map the schools and pupil travel distances around us to help figure out what was missing for parents, and what would help.
We created a dedicated network of concerned residents and parents who all face the different challenges that the school run presents. Whether that is dangerous and stressful journeys to school with young children, the school-related traffic swamping our streets and bringing pollution to our homes, or the fear of letting children travel to school unaccompanied.
Using our data-led approach we actively campaign in Lambeth and Southwark, South East London for safer and healthier journeys to school. We are solutions focused and in early 2023 we received funding from the Foundation of Integrated Transport to expand our school travel data dashboard and solutions toolkit London-wide. We hope these will provide other campaign groups, councillors, schools and parents in London the data and resources that we have found so helpful in our local grassroots work.
Between 2019 - 2024 through relentless local campaigning, we saw a cycle lane, 7 zebra crossings, a controlled parking zone and an expansive school street completely transform the streets around our children’s school. Although it is not perfect, for the majority of pupils at least 50% of their route is in a school street or healthy route zone and we are seeing more and more children in Year 4 (age 8-9) start to travel independently to school. We were delighted to win the 2025 Lambeth Civic Award for Climate & Green Spaces for our work.
We now want every pupil, at every school, to have this experience. We know that we need systemic infrastructure change to reduce car-use and air pollution. But we also can't help but feel excited and optimistic at the constantly expanding array of sustainable solutions - from community cargo bikes, to smart route planning for school buses - that can be implemented to increase choice and convenience for parents who don't want to be reliant on cars. We want to inspire and enable that choice..
We look forward to a future where a child can get to their school safely, healthily and sustainably, wherever that school may be.
Please join us!
Thank you!
Claire & Nicola
We are supported by:
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