This summer people across Ards & North Down are being encouraged to continue to leave their car at home and take part in the Active Travel Challenge in a bid to be more sustainable, save money and to boost physical and mental health.

From a short trip to the shop to the commute to work, the Active Travel Challenge recently encouraged participants to switch up their usual routine and try walking, cycling or taking public transport as a cleaner, greener way to travel. 
 The joint initiative was free to sign up to and ran for the entire month of June. Participants logged their ‘active travel’ journeys on the online platform for a chance to win a of range prizes, including vouchers, travel tickets, gym passes and rewards with national and regional retailers. 
The Active Travel Challenge is a partnership between Sustrans, Translink, the Department for Infrastructure, the Public Health Agency (PHA), Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, and Belfast City Council, with the popular annual challenge open to individuals and organisations of any size across Northern Ireland to take part and help create habits for a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable lifestyle. The Challenge was also a great way to stimulate a little friendly competition between organisations and indeed amongst teams and colleagues.

In 2022, the Active Travel Challenge saw almost 9,000kg of CO2 saved by people opting to travel by walking, cycling, taking public transport and even skateboarding instead of using the car.  
Aidan Dawson, Chief Executive of the Public Health Agency said: “We know that keeping physically active can improve our physical and mental health and wellbeing and quality of life, with as little as 30 minutes of moderate level physical activity most days of the week shown to help reduce anxiety, help maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of developing chronic conditions such as heart disease, some cancers, type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis, while also improving our quality of sleep.”
To find out more and get involved in this year’s Active Travel Challenge go to atc.getmeactive.org.uk/ or email challenge@sustrans.org.uk. Keep up to date with all the latest ATC action on social media using #GetMeActiveNI