Marvin the Moose launches the Daily Mile at Willingham Primary School
Wednesday 30th October, saw Marvin the Moose, Cambridge United’s Mascot, visit Willingham Primary School to launch The Daily Mile with the children. Marvin surprised the children in their whole school assembly, much to the delight of the children. Marvin then took part in The Daily Mile with the children giving his seal of approval with plenty of high fives!
Cambridge United’s Community Trust runs a number of educational opportunities for children in the county, particularly their AstraZeneca Active Science programme led by Community Liaison Officer, Simon Wall. Simon said of today’s celebration of physical activity: ‘Marvin seems to bring good weather with him and it is great to see the children from Willingham clearly enjoying The Daily Mile, with lots of smiles and enthusiasm.’
The Daily Mile, founded in 2012 by Scottish Headteacher Elaine Wyllie, sees children jog or run at their own pace for 15 minutes daily. Its strength is the simplicity of the initiative, with children going straight from the classroom to the playground or field. Since January the number of schools taking up The Daily Mile has more than doubled to 85, as the benefits are being seen; children noticeably fitter, able to concentrate for longer and showing increased resilience.
Headteacher , Dave Morrel, said, “At Willingham Primary School, we have not only adopted The Daily Mile for the obvious health and fitness benefits for our pupils, but also to support attention during our lessons and reduce the stress-related chemicals in our children’s brains. Our pupils are expected to listen attentively, practise diligently and write a lot in their lessons; an additional 15mins of physical activity each afternoon, for all of our pupils, has meant that they are more capable of sustaining this effort throughout the school day.”
PE Coordinator, Danny Carminati, said of the visit, ‘we are so pleased to have had Marvin the Moose from Cambridge United here today, the children have had an absolute whale of a time and they really enjoyed the experience – its something they will never forget!
For more details regarding the Daily Mile please get in touch with Ali Cope, The Daily Mile Local Coordinator for Living Sport: alicope@livingsport.co.uk
The Daily Mile Logo and ‘The Daily Mile’ name are trademarks belonging to The Daily Mile Foundation, Hawkslease, Chapel Lane, Lyndhurst. U.K. and are reproduced with permission. All rights reserved.