Press Release: MILESTONE SMASHED: 4M CHILDREN NOW TAKING PART IN THE DAILY MILE – DOUBLED SINCE 2019
MILESTONE SMASHED: 4M CHILDREN NOW TAKING PART IN THE DAILY MILE – DOUBLED SINCE 2019
- 4 million children across more than 16,500 schools and nurseries across 90 countries are now signed up to The Daily Mile, the life-changing children’s health and wellbeing initiative.
- The Daily Mile, supported by INEOS, gets millions of children active through 15-minutes of outdoor exercise to promote positive physical, mental and social health.
- Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS: “INEOS has supported the Daily Mile for years because it’s a free, simple, and effective way to improve children’s physical and mental wellbeing. It has been a natural fit for us to work with an initiative that is so passionate about helping more children enjoy exercise more often, and we look forward to its success as it continues to transform more lives around the world.”
- Elaine Wyllie MBE, Founder of The Daily Mile: “From a single school in Stirling to now over 16,500 schools and 4 million children, it is staggering to see how this initiative has grown into a global movement in a little over 10 years.”
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The Daily Mile Foundation, supported by INEOS, today announced that 4 million children in 90 countries worldwide are taking part in the health and wellbeing initiative, up double in size since 2019.
The initiative has received formal backing from the Scottish Government and in 2022 Scotland was announced as the world’s first Daily Mile Nation, meaning over half of primary schools across all 32 local authorities are doing the Daily Mile, developing healthy habits for life.
The Foundation’s expanding network of partners in the UK, Europe, USA and beyond continues to focus on increasing the number of schools taking part. In England alone, partnerships with Sport England, supported by the National Lottery, ITV and London Marathon, have led to record engagement with The Daily Mile, resulting in over 2 million children participating. The support from national and local partners around the world who share the ambition to help children become more active is critical to the continued growth of The Daily Mile.
The Daily Mile initiative was founded by Elaine Wyllie MBE in 2012 – born out of a concern around children’s lack of physical fitness. Headteacher of St Ninians’s Primary School in Stirling, Scotland, at the time, Elaine got her pupils moving for 15 minutes every day to improve their overall health and wellbeing.
The Daily Mile in partnership with ITV created an advert to promote the benefits of The Daily Mile, which highlighted how The Daily Mile can contribute towards improved academic attainment, and encouraged more schools to join the initiative. As did high profile support from sporting legends including marathon record-breaker Eliud Kipchoge and rugby’s All Blacks.
Research shows the benefits of The Daily Mile for children’s physical health, mental wellbeing, and learning. Increased activity means increased fitness, helping children feel happier and supporting children’s focus and concentration in the classroom. Research by the Universities of Stirling and Edinburgh found that the success of the initiative lies in its core principles and ease of implementation.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS says: “INEOS has supported the Daily Mile for years because it’s a free, simple, and effective way to improve children’s physical and mental wellbeing. It has been a natural fit for us to work with an initiative that is so passionate about helping more children enjoy exercise more often, and we look forward to its success as it continues to transform more lives around the world.”
Elaine Wyllie MBE, Founder of The Daily Mile says: “From a single school in Stirling to now over 16,500 schools and 4 million children, it is staggering to see how this initiative has grown into a global movement in a little over 10 years. Being active is key for everyone’s health and wellbeing. I’d like to thank the children, teachers, schools and all of our partners in 90 countries who share our vision of helping children across the world to get fit for life. Reaching the 4 million milestone is a brilliant way for us to kick off the year and we’re excited to continue to make a positive impact on children’s lives in the years to come.”
Join The Daily Mile movement in the USA here.
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Media Contacts
Andrew McLachlan andrew@mediazoo.tv +447931377162
Eve Debbage eve.debbage@mediazoo.tv +447713336937
Program Contacts
John Mayock John.Mayock@ineos.com +447702777038
Fiona Paterson fiona@thedailymile.co.uk +447584154641
Notes to Editors
The Daily Mile was first developed by Elaine Wyllie MBE when she was Headteacher of St Ninian’s Primary School in Stirling, Scotland in February 2012. Since 2016, The Daily Mile has been supported by global chemical company INEOS, which has enabled the free initiative to grow globally helping millions of kids to get active every day.
The initiative is simple – but can be transformational to children’s health and wellbeing. It involves classes heading outside to jog or run around the school grounds for 15-minutes every day, at whatever pace suits the child best. It gets children active with their friends and teachers and refreshed for further learning. The Daily Mile is free, fun and fits in the school day easily.
Though named “The Daily Mile” (as children tend to average running a mile in the 15-minutes), the distance isn’t compulsory, and the ethos of the scheme is of inclusivity, enjoyment, and self-improvement over time. The Daily Mile is intended to help all children, no matter their age, ability or personal circumstances, enjoy getting active every day – getting fitter and healthier now, but also developing healthy habits for a lifetime.