Children are being encouraged to walk, run and cycle their way around the borough, with the individual clocking up the most miles in a new Richmond Council led competition winning a digital camera.

More than 300 children took part in the launch of the Step, Pedal, Jump challenge, which is open to members of all the borough’s junior rugby clubs, who are aged five to 12 years old. It was launched at Teddington Rugby Club on Sunday, 25 October.

The Step, Pedal, Jump project, part of Richmond Council and Transport for London’s (TfL’s) Smarter Travel Richmond upon Thames programme, aims to encourage children to walk or cycle to their rugby club rather than arriving by car, and to think about travelling by bike or on foot for other journeys too.

To stand a chance of winning the camera, competitors must keep a record of how they travelled for a minimum of eight journeys carried out by Sunday 6 December.

The journeys must be logged on the scorecard given out to youngsters at Sunday’s launch. At least four journeys must be to the individual’s rugby club. The others could include trips to see family and friends, shopping or going to the cinema .

Teddington RFC chairman Gareth Cross said: “Step, Pedal, Jump is really important for us because of where we are in Bushy Park. Parking here is limited so we always encourage people to cycle or walk down.

“It’s also a great way for the kids to get their warm up work done before they arrive, and most of them are brought down by their parents so it will make them think more about walking too.”