SBitC has lauded the impact the scheme supported by Ferrero has had on the local community in Coventry...
Today Sky Blues in the Community joins football clubs across the UK in a celebration of the Kinder + Sport programme, a national community initiative delivered in partnership with The Football League Trust and Ferrero designed to get children active, promote nutritional education and build awareness of the importance of a balanced diet and active lifestyle.
Since the start of the school year, Sky Blues in the Community has teamed up with primary schools in the area to deliver the + Sport Move and Learn Project to 9-10 year olds, with each session combining 45 minutes of classroom based learning with 45 minutes of activity over the course of 6 weeks. Club players Conor Thomas, Andy Webster, James Maddison, Matthew Pennington, Aaron Phillips and Jordan Willis have acted as Ambassadors for the initiative, and participating schools have had the chance to be involved in match day activities such as playing a 6-a-side match on the pitch at half time during a Coventry City Home fixture at the Ricoh Arena.
The celebration coincides with the unveiling of the Kinder + Sport Jump for Joy project, created to encourage children and adults throughout the UK to experience the “Joy of Moving” by capturing their very own jump for joy.
Players, mascots, fans and children from Kinder + Sport clubs have been sharing pictures of their jumps, which have all now been combined into a mosaic of images in the shape of the Kinder + Sport logo. The mosaic is revealed today at the Kinder + Sport Pavilion at Expo in Milan as part of the celebrations for Expo UK National Day. The Jumps for Joy mosaic can also be viewed online at http://www.kinderplussport.co.uk/en/jumpforjoy
Charlie Cayton, Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications at Ferrero, says: “Celebrating the joy of moving is at the very heart of the Kinder + Sport philosophy. That’s why, as this academic year draws to a close, we want to recognise the hard work and commitment of The Football League Trust and our partner clubs across the UK and Ireland. Thanks to their dedication, the programme has reached over 41,000 children with over 190,000 hours of behaviour change activity. We look forward to continuing to work with them and to growing the programme by bringing more clubs on board at the start of the new school year in September.”
Mike Evans, General Manager of The Football League Trust, adds: “We have been working with Ferrero for almost 2 years now to inspire children to lead active lifestyles through the Kinder + Sport programme. We have been overwhelmed by the positive response we have had from the clubs, schools and kids themselves to the initiative. We see it as vitally important that companies such as Ferrero value the health and well-being of our future generations, and we’re delighted to be building on the initial success of the project and to continue to grow it next year.”
Guy Rippon, Director of Sky Blues in the Community said: “We are very grateful for the support from the Football League Trust and Ferrero. This has been an excellent project, with lots of buy in from the players visiting schools to promote a healthy lifestyle message. We are delighted that the project has been funded for another academic year, which will allow another 1,800 pupils to benefit from the scheme.”