Infrastructure Minister congratulates Active School Travel Champion of the Year, Mr Jonny Hall, from Kilcooley Primary School and Nursery Unit, Bangor, County Down.
Mr Jonny Hall, Active School Travel Champion of the Year 2025 with Principal Pauline Brown and Beth Harding from Sustrans. Credit: Sustrans
Jonny Hall from Kilcooley Primary School in Bangor, Co Down, has won the Active School Travel Champion of the Year Award from Sustrans for ‘inspiring positive change through his leadership and example’.
Mr Hall received the accolade during Bike Week (9-15 June) for being a fantastic advocate for active travel and sustainability. He organises regular activities to encourage active travel, including bike buses, walk to school initiatives, and charity cycles.
A highlight of his achievement was leading a charity cycle of P7 pupils 15 miles from Bangor to Belfast in April to deliver food items to the homeless charity, Team Haven.
Nominated by his Principal Pauline Brown, she described Mr Hall as “an outstanding advocate for active and sustainable travel within our school community”.
“His commitment to promoting healthier, eco-friendly travel choices has made a significant impact on pupils, staff and parents, inspiring positive change through his leadership and example,” said the Principal.
“His efforts deserve recognition and appreciation, as they have positively shaped the way students and staff think about travel, health, and environmental responsibility.”
Mr Hall sets an inspiring example by choosing to walk or cycle himself, organising hikes up the Mournes, paddle boarding and cold water dips both inside and outside of his working hours, demonstrating his dedication to a greener, healthier lifestyle for all.
Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins said: “I am delighted that my department has been able to support the Active School Travel Programme and I would like to thank all schools who encourage their staff and pupils to make more of their journeys by walking, wheeling or cycling.
“I extend my congratulations to Mr Hall and the pupils of Kilcooley Primary School and Nursery Unit. Through leading by example, it is teachers like Mr Hall who can make a real difference, to both the young people he teaches and to the wider community, by encouraging us all to consider active travel for shorter everyday journeys, benefiting the environment and having positive impacts on our physical and mental wellbeing.”
Mr Jonny Hall, Active School Travel Champion of the Year 2025 with Principal Pauline Brown, Beth Harding from Sustrans, and P7 pupils from Kilcooley Primary School. Credit: Sustrans
Consider active travel for everyday journeys
Beth Harding, our Active School Travel Manager in Northern Ireland said: “Congratulations to Mr Hall who is clearly an inspiration to the school community.
“Kilcooley Primary is a brilliant example of a school in our Extended Support network that no longer receives direct support from a Sustrans officer but continues to promote and sustain a culture of active travel within the school community – and having an enthusiastic champion at the helm that is well supported by school management, colleagues and wider community organisations is the key to success.”
We came up with the idea for the awards due to the success of the popular Active School Travel programme we deliver throughout Northern Ireland with funding from the Public Health Agency (PHA) and Department for Infrastructure.
Participating schools were asked to nominate a member of staff who helps the whole school community travel actively and sustainably, through organising regular activities and events as well as setting an example by walking or cycling themselves.
Through the Active School Travel programme, we have worked with more than 570 schools in the past decade, recording increasing numbers of children travelling actively to school – and decreasing numbers being driven - in participating schools every year.
Andrew Carson, Health Improvement Manager at the PHA, said: “It is great to see Jonny Hall awarded for his commitment to encouraging children to build physical activity into their school days. The Active School Travel Programme is a great way to support pupils to travel actively.”
