Birmingham school children mark their commitment to healthy lifestyles at celebration event

Students and teachers from 12 schools, currently participating in the Health for Life® programme, came together at Services For Education’s HQ in Birmingham last month to showcase the range of accomplishments in support of healthier lifestyles which they have achieved since joining the initiative last autumn.

Pupils took part in a range of activities at the event, with pupils from Manor Park Primary sharing their recipes for smoothies to show how fruits and vegetables can be used to make delicious and healthy drinks. Children were also able to create healthy pancakes from scratch, as well as cooking delicious fajitas using vegetables they harvested at school.

In addition, students tried out different types of physical exercise such as rugby, engaging their hand eye co-ordination, Skip 2B Fit which involved skipping, whilst pupils from Kings Rise Academy shared a brand-new activity, ‘Drumba’ which combines high energy movement and drumming, guided by a video instructor.

With over 50 school children in attendance, the celebration event marked a wide range of achievements from participating schools across Birmingham. The Health for Life scheme supports activities that engage pupils, school staff and families in growing food, healthy eating and cookery and physical activity, enabling schools to make a wide range of sustainable changes – some of which have included opportunities for the whole family to get involved.

The initiative is funded by Mondelēz International and delivered in partnership with Services For Education and The Conservation Volunteers (TCV). Since its launch in 2011, Health for Life has engaged 219 schools and, also working with the community, has reached more than 255,000 children and adults in Birmingham.

Helen Grundy, Health for Life’s Programme Lead at Services For Education, added: “As each cohort works through the Health For Life programme, it’s always fantastic to gather with the participating schools and for pupils to share their accomplishments.

“It’s been wonderful to see so many enthusiastic students taking part in the activities at this year’s celebration event and we hope they are extremely proud of their efforts towards leading healthier lifestyles.”

Kelly Farrell, Community and Sustainability Manager at Mondelēz International, added: “The Health for Life programme continues to be a wonderful initiative that we are incredibly proud to fund and support.

“There are so many fantastic benefits to involving children in a broad range of hands-on activities around healthy eating, growing and preparing their own food and physical activity, and Health for Life continues to make a true difference to schools, pupils, families and the community.”

For further information on Health for Life, please visit https://www.servicesforeducation.co.uk/health-for-life/ and for more details on Mondelēz International, head to www.mondelezinternational.com.