Walkodile is a

child safety Child protection (also called child welfare) is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, abandonment, and neglect. It involves identifying signs of potential harm. This includes responding to allegations or suspicions ...

device consisting of "a flexible plastic spine and safety belts" to keep groups of six young children together while on walks outside of their school or nursery/

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

. Walkodile was released in the United Kingdom in 2007, and has won many awards in the fields of

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or service (economics), services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a n ...

, design and business. Its inventor Elaine Stephen was also awarded

Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in British

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

's 2011 New Years Honours List for services to Child Safety.Queen's New Years Honours List 2011, The London Gazette Number 59647
/ref>

Background and product

Stephen, a Scottish

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

teacher, came up with the idea for the Walkodile in 2002. She wanted to find a way to keep her class of five year olds safer on walking trips outside the classroom, and in so doing, help give them more outdoor learning opportunities. After several years of

market research Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers. It involves understanding who they are and what they need. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining com ...

, design,

prototyping A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...

and trials, Walkodile was released to the market in 2007.''Mother of Invention'', Times Educational Supplement, 28 July 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2012

/ref>''Youngsters do the Walkodile Walk: Keeping Children Safe'', BBC News Online 15 May 2008. Retrieved 11 November 201

/ref> Stephen commissioned The Design Unit, at

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

to assist with the product's design.'The Design Unit, De Montfort University
/ref> Each child wears a high visibility safety belt which is connected to a flexible plastic spine by a security clip.''Walkodile Creator Snaps up Award'',

BBC News Channel The BBC News channel is a British free-to-air public broadcast television news channel owned and operated by the BBC. The channel is based at and broadcasts from Broadcasting House in the West End of London from which it is anchored during ...

, 10 December 2008. Retrieved 11 November 201

/ref> The children hold on to the product's handles and walk with their supervisors(s), who hold the hand of a child at the front and/or back of the group. The product can be used for groups of six, four or two children, and is used by the 3-7 year age range.

Business

Walkodile is marketed in the UK by Red Island Ltd, the company Stephen set up to develop the product and commercialise it. The resource is also sold by several UK catalogue distributors who carry it in their portfolio. Walkodile is also sold in several overseas territories and countries, including the United States by Excelligence Learning Corp, based in

Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...

Coverage

More than 200 articles have appeared about Walkodile in the UK media including ''Woman's Own'' magazine, ''Scottish Business Insider'', ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' and the ''Daily Mail''. In addition, Stephen and her invention made an appearance on

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios ...

's ''

Working Lunch ''Working Lunch'' is a television programme which was broadcast on BBC Two covering business, personal finance and consumer news; it was broadcast between 1994 and 2010. The programme was first aired on 19 September 1994. It had a quirky, relaxed ...

'',

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...

's "Drivetime" and

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now legally known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchisee for Central Belt, Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation si ...

's "

North Tonight ''North Tonight'' was a Scottish nightly regional news programme covering the North of Scotland, produced by STV North (formerly Grampian Television). History During the late 1960s and 1970s, Grampian's regional news service consisted of daily 1 ...

Awards

Walkodile

*British Invention of the Year 2007 *British Design of the Year 2007De Montfort University Open Research Archive, ''Walkodile''. Retrieved 11 November 2012

/ref> *Shell European Safety Exchange 2005, First Prize Elaine Stephen MBE

Elaine Stephen

*British Female Inventors & Innovators Network Awards - Product Development Diamond Winner, 2007 *British Female Inventors & Innovators Network Awards - Inventor/Innovation Diamond Winner, 2007 *European Woman Inventor/Innovator of the Year 2007 (Mother & Child category) *Winner John Logie Baird Award for Entrepreneurial Spirit 2008 *Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) - Queen's New Years Honours List 2011 for services to Child Safety

Red Island Ltd

* UK Nursery Supplier/Innovator of the Year, Nursery Management Today Awards 2007''Sitting on a Fortune'', by Madeleine Brettingham, Times Educational Supplement, 12 May 2008. Retrieved 11 November 201

/ref> * Winner Grampian Business Awards (New Start Category) 2007

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.walkodile.com Child safety Scottish inventions