Brantano is calling for children and their parents in to pledge to walk to school more often in the new term, to help raise money for road safety charity, Brake.

Research by the shoe retailer has revealed that only a third of children and parents regularly walk to and from school every week and further research highlights that only a quarter of parents feel the route between their home and school is safe. Brantano is aiming to encourage the school run to be made on foot rather than in the car in a bid to not only help reduce congestion and traffic dangers on the roads around schools but also to help promote a healthy lifestyle and safe walking in correctly fitted shoes.

For every pledge Brantano receives it will donate 10p to Brake to help fund the lifesaving work it does in campaigning to prevent road deaths and injuries, and supporting people bereaved by traffic collisions. To take part simply head to a Brantano store to take advantage of the free expert fitting service and pick up a pledge card. Then share a photo holding your pledge card on Brantano’s Facebook or Twitter pages and Brantano will donate to Brake for every pledge photo shared.

Increased activity, whether it be walking or cycling to school, encourages a healthier lifestyle for our youngsters but Brantano warns parents not to let this good exercise result in problems elsewhere by not wearing correctly fitted shoes. Louise Williams, fitting expert at Brantano said: “Our research found that 82% of parents were unaware of all the dangers of ill-fitting shoes. It’s hugely important for children to protect their feet by wearing correctly fitted shoes. Shoes that are too big or too tight can cause a number of issues from short term redness, soreness and blisters to longer term conditions such as foot deformities and back and knee pain that can directly affect their walking for the rest of their lives.

At Brantano, we are already committed to providing a service that looks after children’s foot health, we are keen to promote and encourage the health and environmental benefits of walking to school. The collaboration with Brake allows us to not only raise awareness of the importance of correctly fitting shoes for children’s foot health but also to reinforce messages about the dangers of roads and the importance of safe road use to both children and parents.”

Philip Goose from Brake, said: “All parents want their children to be healthy and happy, and getting out and walking and cycling more often is a great way to do this. Walking or cycling to school, and being active, can be great fun. It’s also healthy, and the more parents and kids who walk or cycle to school, rather than clogging up our roads and school gates with dangerous traffic and parked cars, the safer our roads become, and we’re delighted to be working with Brantano to promote active travel.”

An exclusively designed range of Brake shoes for boys and girls is also available in store and along with Brantano’s Back to School collection, there’s something for every child to keep those growing feet in a safe pair of shoes. For every pair of Brake shoes purchased a donation will also be made to the charity.

At Brantano choosing correctly fitted shoes is a straightforward process that does not need to be expensive and involves not only measuring the length, width and depth of both of the feet, but also trying the shoes on and watching how the child walks in the shoes.

The stores all offer a free fitting service, with staff trained by top brands such as Clarks, Start Rite and Hush Puppies. So with late opening hours at conveniently located stores, a hassle free expert fitting service and a wide range of shoes to suit all budgets, Brantano aims to make the back to school shop as easy and convenient as possible.

For more information visit www.brantano.co.uk