£15,000 Health for Life grant awarded to local schools

Three schools across Birmingham have each been awarded a donation of£5,000, as part of the Health for Life programmeto celebrate its 10thanniversary.

Health for Life, an evidence based, award-winning programme funded byMondelēz International, marked its milestone birthday by offering the schoolsthat have engaged with the programme throughout the last 10 years thechance to apply for an extra grant to support projects focussed on its corethemes of healthy eating and cooking, food growing and physical activity for

both the children, teachers, parents and wider communities.

From a range of submissions, Elms Farm Primary School, Highfield Junior andInfants School and Hillstone Primary School were selected for theirimaginative and exciting projects to receive the substantial Health for Lifegrant.

Sheldon-based Elms Farm Primary School, inspired by their pupils’ ideas, willuse the £5,000 donation to create a brand-new outdoor fitness area whichcan be enjoyed at break and lunchtimes, with the aim to increase physicalactivity and encourage students to live an active and healthier lifestyle. Thefacilities will also be available to the wider community and for holiday clubs.

Highfield Junior and Infants School’s, Saltley, will create a diverse outdoorclassroom for use during lessons, break-times and for family involvement.Complete with tables, benches, as well as raised beds, a mini orchard andsensory garden, the grant will enable children to spend more enrichmenttime outdoors and learn how to grow their own food.

Shard-Ends’ Hillstone Primary School’s grant will enable the school to extendtheir focus on cooking and healthy eating with the creation of a dedicatedand fully-equipped cooking classroom for students, which the localcommunity will also be able to access. The new kitchen will not only enhancelife skills by giving all children hands-on cooking opportunities but will alsobe used for family cooking courses.

Emma Baxter, headteacher at Elms Farm Primary School, said: “The Health forLifeprogramme has been incredibly beneficial in educating our studentsabout leading a healthy lifestyle, so we’re delighted to receive this fantasticdonation, which will enable us to develop a fitness area for pupils across theschool to enjoy.”

Headteacher at Highfield Junior and Infants School, Ashley Knibbs,commented: “We are very grateful to Health for Life for their continuedsupport and this generous grant. It has provided us an opportunity to make areal difference, improve our outdoor facilities and enable us to continue toinspire pupils about the importance of living a healthier life.”

Rosie Millns, Health for Life lead at Hillstone Primary School, added: “Thanks

to Health for Life’s contribution, our brand-new cookery classroom will ensurewe can continue teaching students and also involve families in more cookerysessions, dishes, some of which will use ingredients that they’ve harvested inour very own school allotment.”

Introduced by Mondelēz International in 2011, the Health for Life programmehas reached more than 230,000 children and adults in Birmingham. With aninvestment of over £4.6m from the business to date, the initiative is delivered inpartnership with Services For Education and The Conservation Volunteers(TCV). Through local schools and communities, the programme engagespeople in growing fruit and vegetables, learning about healthy eating,improving cooking skills and taking part in a range of physical activities.

Kelly Farrell, community affairs manager at Mondelēz International, said:“We’re extremely proud that for over 10 years, our Health for Life programmehas inspired school children, their teachers, parents and local communitiesacross the region to develop and sustain a healthy lifestyle.

“We’re delighted to celebrate the programmes’ anniversary with these grantsand know that they will have direct positive impacts for both adults andchildren across the local community.

For more information about the work carried out by Health for Life in schools,please visit https://www.servicesforeducati... and, inthe community, visit www.tcv.org.uk/midlands/health-for-life.