For schools

Social media is now a very powerful tool to spread promotional campaigns which support climate and sustainability behavioural change. 

You can engage with the ‘Be a Stop Idol’ campaign by either sharing the Council’s posts on Facebook and Instagram, or creating your own posts using the graphics that we have provided or add your own photos which are related to the campaign (e.g. students taking part in the poster competition). 

Here is some suggested wording you could use in your own social media posts: 

• Did you know that idling for just 30 seconds can produce twice as much pollution compared with turning your car off and on again? We are asking our school community to protect our student’s health by switching off their engine when stationary.
• We are supporting Runnymede Borough Council’s ‘Be a Stop Idol' campaign’ aimed at reducing idling behaviour from stationary vehicles. Sign the Council’s Stop Idol pledge to show your commitment to reducing air pollution and improve public health today.
• Idling leads to negative, but entirely avoidable, impacts on air pollution and young people’s health, the environment, and your pocket. We are supporting Runnymede Borough Council’s ‘Be a Stop Idol’ campaign to encourage all cars that are stationary for more than 30 seconds to switch off their engines. 
• We are calling on our school community to ‘Be a Stop Idol’ by switching off vehicle engines when stationary for more than 30 seconds. By acting as a role model for others, you can encourage positive changes in the behaviour of others while improving local air quality. 
• Our students are taking part in Runnymede Borough Council’s ‘Be a Stop Idol’ campaign by taking part in a poster competition aimed at reducing drivers idling on their school commutes or near the school site. The winning poster will be made into a banner and displayed on the school’s grounds. 

Downloadable social media images

As part of the ‘Be a Stop Idol’ campaign in schools across Runnymede, each school will run a poster competition with students. Following an introductory presentation from a member of the Council, students will be asked to produce a poster focussed on reducing idling. The template that should be disseminated to students is available here. 

•  Student competition poster

Schools that engage with the Council on the ‘Be a Stop Idol’ campaign will be with ‘I’m a Stop Idol’ stickers and bookmarks which are to be distributed to every student that enters the competition. In each school, a judging panel comprised of school staff will decide which poster is the winning entry. The winning entry in each school should then be passed to the Council who will fund a banner based on this poster to be created. The banner is to be displayed on the school grounds in a suitable location. 

If possible, please share your involvement in the ‘Be a Stop Idol’ campaign and the campaign’s graphics in any relevant newsletters or emails to the school community letting them know that you support the campaign and are asking all drivers visiting the school to remember to switch off their engines when stationary for more than 30 seconds. 

This can be done early on in the campaign once the assembly presentation has been delivered by Council staff, during the campaign as students are submitting entries to the poster competition, or after the poster competition once your winning poster has been provided as a banner. 

Some suggested wording that could be used in a newsletter is as follows:

Air pollution poses a significant health risk to our students and young people. Among the causes of this pollution is vehicle idling which has a more severe impact on the health of young people, even when inside a vehicle. This is why we are supporting Runnymede Borough Council’s ‘Be a Stop Idol’ campaign which aims to spread the message about the importance of switching engines off when stationary for more than 30 seconds. If you visit the school or are picking off / dropping off in the roads around the school, please remember to turn off your engine while waiting at the side of the road / parked. It is a simple way to tackle harmful emissions, improve our local air quality and safeguard the health of our students.

If you would like to show your commitment to reducing idling and acting as a role model for others in the community, Runnymede Borough Council have created a ‘Stop Idol’ pledge which can be signed online in a matter of moments. By signing the pledge, you join other responsible residents in the borough acting to reduce idling and improving the local environment.

Sign the ‘Stop Idol’ pledge.

Although the ‘Be a Stop Idol’ campaign can generate positive behavioural changes related to idling behaviour, the initiative will last for a short period of time. Therefore, finding ways to maintain an ongoing focus on reducing air pollution and emissions can ensure the positivity created by the campaign continues in the future. 

Schools may consider some of the following activities to continue this focus and embed climate action and protection of the environment in your everyday practices and your students minds:

• Create a school travel plan or add further actions related to idling or reducing air pollution to any existing plan. The Safer Travel Team at Surrey County Council can provide support with creating your school travel plan and working towards getting this nationally accredited. Visit School travel plans Modeshift STARS to find out more.
• Take a look at the resources and information available from School Action for Clean Air. There are a host of resources available on this website from school packs, to launching campaigns in your school, and creating ‘Clean Air Detectives’. You can also use their air pollution calculator to understand current sources of pollution and ways to reduce these with your student’s support: Action for clean air 
• Visit Runnymede Borough Council’s ‘For Schools’ pages which include lots of actions that can be taken by schools to act on climate change and function more sustainably. This ranges from school travel, to acting on waste, accessing grants to achieving recognised accreditations for your work. Visit for schools section on our website to find out more and if you think there is anything the Council can do to support you, please contact climatechange@runnymede.gov.uk
• By taking part in the ‘Be a Stop Idol’ campaign, your school is already showing your commitment to the environment and the future lives of your students. Continue your wonderful work to embed climate action, sustainability, and nature protection as part of the culture in your school and among your pupils both in and out of the classroom.