Duncan tells us how he's taken the stress out of the school run

Audio-described (AD) version

Why did you start walking to school?  

I live in the valley with my wife and four children, who all go to school locally. My primary mode of travel is walking. And although we have a car, it takes longer to get a parking space in town, then get the buggy out and set it up, than it does to just walk in. 

Do many other people walk along the canal?  

We used to live about half a mile away from school, and I thought most people would just walk down the canal to the school. But we ended up being the only people who did it and it was amazing. 

Do the kids enjoy walking to school? 

We’d see so many different things. We once saw an otter in the canal which was amazing. And the kids got to rave at school about all the cool things they'd seen. Everybody else was driving in and struggling to find car parking spaces and getting stuck in jams, while we were walking and chatting. It was a great way of helping the boys transition from being at home to being at school.  

How does walking benefit the kids? 

I try not to let the children have too much time on phones or tablets, on the internet or watching TV. When you're out walking, that's taken away because they can't do any of that. So, they're more focused and more present in their life. It’s a little bit like having time for themselves where they can digest the things that have happened to them during the day, digest what's happened to them overnight and talk to you about it.

So, walking brings you closer together? 

You get to have an insight into what the kids want and how they're doing. When you’re home, you don't always have that time to really engage with them. And having that time with the children, being able to talk to them about how their day was, allowing them to process what's going on in their life, having that space for them to express to you how they're feeling as well, it's brilliant.  

What are the benefits of walking? 

It sounds daft and counterintuitive that walking, although it takes longer, gives you more time, but it does. Also, as a stay-at-home dad, it can sometimes be quite isolating when you're at home all day looking after the children. When you walk, you can go with friends and have a conversation. You can talk and get to see things that you wouldn't in a car. And you get to bump into complete strangers and have a chat with them. It makes you feel part of the community. 

What advice would you give anyone deciding to walk? 

Change your mindset because it's easy to think to yourself I’ll get in the car and just drive there. Once you've tried one or two journeys by walking instead of taking the car every time, you find that it's quite easy to walk to most places. 

What would you say to anyone considering using their car bit less? 

Take that initial step, give yourself a month walking somewhere and soon you'll realise how easy it is, and it gets easier than what you normally did. The first day you walk, it will be difficult, but once you get into it, it's so much easier than driving places.  

It's a big part of your mental health to be able to go outside and interact with nature and get exercise. It will give you so many benefits that you will eventually start to wonder why you bothered doing that short drive.