YOUNGSTERS at a Tullibody primary school have been handing out valuable life lessons during a recent a march for charity.

Every pupil at Banchory walked from their school to Lornshill Academy to raise awareness for road safety in conjunction with the volunteer organisation Brake.

The nursery children and staff also took part by walking round Delph Pond.

Pupils were joined by over 25 parents who were hoping to make people in the area a little more aware about the dangers of poor driving habits so that their children would be safer before and after school.

Heather Longmuir, the school’s liaison officer, told the Advertiser that the event was to educate parents and drivers as much as it was the children.

She said: “Brake is a charity which is for kids who are affected by road traffic accidents.

"The point of this was to raise awareness and urge drivers and cyclists to be safer on the roads.

“We usually do the event as a fundraiser, but this year we charged everyone 50p.

"There were five key learning points from the event which were: safe cycle paths, safe places to cross, safe footpaths, slow traffic and clean traffic.”

Heather said the event ended up a great success due to the fact that many drivers did indeed slow down as the hundreds of kids walked past.

She continued: “The kids are generally quite good at crossing roads. It is the adults who need educated.

"They need to know where to park, how slow they should be going in the school areas, etc.

Heather added: “It was great to see a strong attendance of parents as there were about 25 there.

"There was also some people there who had no links to the school but had been affected by road traffic accidents. That was really meaningful.”

While Heather was delighted to see the kids put so much effort in, she hopes that more parents will take the time to discuss road safety with their young ones.

She said: “We want kids to go home and speak to their parents, because that’s who they will listen to the most.

"They have a huge voice so hopefully they can go home and talk to their parents about being safe.”

It is not the first time Banchory pupils have tried to raise awareness of road safety near the school.

In June last year, The Advertiser reported how the parent council and police issued a chilling reminder to drivers of the consequences of carelessness by playing dead in the areas near the school.

Community officers then issued further warnings to drivers about dangerous parking, saying they would hand out fixed penalty notices to those who ignore regulations.