Little feet get walking in Newtown

A Newtown school is taking part in an expanded Welsh Government backed programme designed to encourage healthy walking habits from an early age.

Ysgol Calon y Dderwen in Newtown is one of the schools benefiting from Little Feet, a scheme delivered by the charity Living Streets which supports children aged two to five to build walking into their daily routines.

The programme works with early years settings and families to encourage short walks, helping young children understand the benefits of being active while supporting early learning and development.

At Ysgol Calon y Dderwen, the scheme is being delivered through Derw Bach, the school’s pre-school playgroup.

Sarah Rowlands, Manager of Derw Bach, said the focus has been on small, achievable changes for both children and parents.

“We have encouraged pupils and their parents to walk a little further each day. We have been doing some walking here with children and feeding back to parents about the benefits,” she said.

The Little Feet initiative builds on the wider Walk to School programme, which has already seen significant take up across Wales. Between 2023 and 2025, Living Streets worked with more than 55,800 pupils in primary schools and 7,700 pupils in secondary schools, logging over 5.4 million journeys. Three Welsh schools also featured in a UK wide Top Ten leaderboard for active travel.

Due to its popularity, the programme is now being extended into early years settings across Wales, with funding support from the Welsh Government. More than £400,000 has been included in the draft budget for the next financial year to help deliver Little Feet alongside existing walking schemes in primary and secondary schools.

Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, Ken Skates, said encouraging walking from a young age was an important step in supporting healthier communities.

“We want all forms of travel to be accessible for everyone. This includes providing opportunities to walk, wheel and cycle safely,” he said.

“Encouraging children and young people to take up healthy walking habits which they can then continue throughout their lives is important. Little Feet is a great initiative which allows children to pick up the walking habit from the earliest opportunity.”

Support for Living Streets forms part of a wider Welsh Government package aimed at encouraging more journeys to be made on foot, while also helping to make roads and streets safer.