Birmingham school children shine a spotlight on health and wellbeing at a celebration event

Health for Life®‘s recent annual celebration event brought together students and teachers from 9 schools to share their learnings, successes and best practise throughout their involvement in the programme.

Now in its fourteenth year, the event marked the achievements of the latest cohort of primary schools taking part in the Health for Life programme, showcasing the activities completed by the students in the last academic year.

Each school showcased how they have embedded the key aspects of Health for Life in their everyday lives, including growing food, cooking and healthy eating, as well as increasing physical activity.

Pupils took pride in organising engaging stalls to present their school’s Health for Life journey, including photos and displays of their work over the past 12 months.

With over 50 school children in attendance, the celebration event marked a wide range of achievements from participating schools across Birmingham, celebrated through a series of interactive activities, including creating homemade Mexican salsa, seed bombs and healthy fruit water, plus a take on exercise bingo, Skip2Bfit challenges, and other multi-skills games.

A firm favourite for many students was the return of the ever-popular smoothie bike, which required enthusiastic pedalling to blend a delicious fruit smoothie.

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 229 schools and, also working with the community, has reached more than 266,600 children and adults in Birmingham.

Helen Grundy, Health for Life’s programme lead at Services For Education, said: “Every year, it’s brilliant to celebrate the fantastic achievements of each cohort of students participating in the Health for Life programme.

“Seeing the enthusiasm, engagement and joy among the students at this year’s celebration event was wonderful, and we hope all the children who participated are extremely proud of their accomplishments working towards healthier lifestyles.”

Kelly Farrell, community and sustainability manager at Mondelēz International, added: “The Health for Life programme continues to be an impactful and meaningful initiative for local children, which we are incredibly proud to continue to fund and support.

“Children can find so many benefits from experiencing hands-on activities that encourage healthy eating, growing and preparing their own food, and Health for Life continues to make a real 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/.