North Tyneside Active Mile
The North Tyneside Active Mile has been in place for 9 years, originally it was part of the Daily Mile, a national initiative to promote basic exercise, through running on a daily basis one mile. However, the Active Mile grew out of the recognition that we are not all runners and that to be sustainable the activity should be fun. We also recognised that this was something open to all people of all ages and abilities.
Building exercise habits
The essence of the active mile is to encourage people of all ages to run, walk, jog, cycle, swim, scoot for 15-20 minutes per day, or as many times a week as possible to build up good regular exercise habits. We also encourage that people of all ages are encouraged to take the time to spend time with others making this a shared experience.
The Active Mile event is the one day in the school calendar where we all come together to celebrate the benefits of this simple approach to exercise. Each year schools and early years settings are encouraged to take part in a challenge, to collectively walk, run, jog, etc over 20,000 miles, but this is done on our school sites.
Lap it up
School staff are encouraged to map out a basic track on the yard or field or both and then measure its distance and then calculate the number of laps needed to cover a mile, with 1600m being the target distance. So, a 400m track needs 4 laps, a 200m track 8 laps.
Then pupils and students from pre-school, nursery, reception up to Year 13 can take part. The Daily Mile targets Years 1-6 but we recognise the importance of sustaining opportunities throughout a young person’s school life.
For the body and the mind
Exercise, really benefits metal well being, it allows time to share, think and talk, reducing stress and anxiety. It encourages cardio-vascular development as well as helping muscles, bones and weight management. The body releases chemicals which make us feel happier, help our body and mind heal and promotes wellness. If young people want to add competition, then they may but the essence of this is to encourage and promote being active in a way that is fun!
This year’s event takes place on Wednesday 1st April 2026, and we hope that your school or setting will register with us to join in, if not you can still make time on that day to start your Active mile and build that into your daily routine, or at least as part of regular weekly exercise.
Last year we had 61 schools and settings, reaching 20,637 miles, our highest mileage yet!
Can we go further this year?
Get involved in the Active Mile
If your school is interested in taking part in this year's Active Mile and helping us break our mileage record, sign up and find all the information you need on our Physical Education, School Sport and Physical Activity (PESSPA) resources page.
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