Teachers and Parents help 3 Million children in 12,000 schools stay healthy around the world
3 MILLION CHILDREN RUN THE DAILY MILE™ AS IT SIGNS UP ITS 12,000th SCHOOL
- 12,000 schools and nurseries across 79 countries are now signed up to The Daily Mile, the life-changing children’s fitness initiative.
- Over 3 million children around the world are now running The Daily Mile, every day. The Daily Mile have also updated and re-launched their #DailyMileAtHome resources to safely support families within Covid-19 restrictions to get outside and move together every day.
- The Daily Mile founder, Elaine Wyllie MBE, said: “I am overwhelmed to see that over 3 million children across 79 countries around the world are taking part in The Daily Mile. From a simple yet effective initiative launched at a single school in Stirling it is amazing to see how it has grown. Being fit and active is so important for everyone’s physical and mental health. It’s an incredible milestone moment in our effort to make a difference to the lives of children on a global scale. I would like to give my sincere thanks to INEOS for its incredible support and to our inspiring team of partners who share our vision of helping children across the world to get fit for life with The Daily Mile.”
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The Daily Mile Foundation, supported by INEOS, today announced that over 3 million children across 12,000 schools and nurseries in over 79 countries around the world are taking part in the fitness initiative. This figure has grown rapidly in the past year with schools and families still doing The Daily Mile throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Foundation’s network of partners in the UK, Europe and beyond is working hard to grow the number of schools taking part. In the UK alone, partnerships with Sport England, supported by the National Lottery, as well as London Marathon and ITV have led to record engagement with The Daily Mile. Their support highlights the shared ambition of leading national organizations to getting children active across the country.
The Daily Mile Foundation has continued to support schools and families throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, launching two motivational campaigns; #TheDailyMileAtHome supported families who were keen to get their children and themselves moving during lockdown when schools were closed, and The Daily Mile #BackToSchool focused on helping schools and nurseries to safely return their children back into a Daily Mile routine in September.
With the majority of children now being home-schooled due to the reintroduction of a national lockdown, The Daily Mile have updated and re-launched their #DailyMileAtHome resources to support families so they can keep moving safely. The challenges help families to get outside and move together each day to help look after their physical and mental health during these difficult times.
The Daily Mile initiative was founded by Elaine Wyllie MBE in 2012 when she was headteacher of St Ninians’s Primary School in Stirling, Scotland. The initiative has gone on to enjoy immense popularity and received high profile backing, with the Scottish and Welsh government citing their support, as well as support from Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and sporting legends including Sir Andy Murray, Paula Radcliffe MBE, Sir Mo Farah and marathon record breaker Eliud Kipchoge.
The Daily Mile Foundation, in partnership with the Scottish Government, is also working on ambitious plans for Scotland to become the world’s first Daily Mile Nation. The plans are based on a model of partnerships all with the same mission of driving participation and encouraging people to jog or run their own Daily Mile as part of everyday life. The scheme is currently active in every Local Authority in Scotland but through the actioning the plan the aim is to increase the number of schools actively delivering the initiative regularly.
Elaine Wyllie MBE, Founder of The Daily Mile says, “I am overwhelmed to see that over 3 million children across 79 countries around the world are taking part in The Daily Mile. From a simple yet effective initiative launched at a school in Stirling it is amazing to see how it has grown.
It’s an incredible milestone moment in our effort to make a difference to the lives of children on a global scale. I would like to give my sincere thanks to INEOS for its incredible support and to our inspiring team of partners in 79 countries who share our vision of helping children across the world to get fit for life with The Daily Mile.
Being fit and active is so important for everyone’s physical and mental health. With lots of us being in another lockdown it can be hard to motivate yourself to stay active, but that is what is so good about The Daily Mile At Home – it is a simple, free and quick way to keep fit meaning that families can fit it into their busy days of working and homeschooling!”
Find out more about The Daily Mile at Home and access the resources here.If you want your school pupils to benefit from taking part in The Daily Mile, sign your school up here.
ENDS.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Emily Northcott | emily.northcott@mediazoo.tv | 07876033636
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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, in February 2012. Since 2016, The Daily Mile Foundation has been supported by 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.