Veggie Run pupils receive a surprise visit from West Ham United players
Pupils at Corbets Tey School, Upminster, have received a surprise visit from two West Ham United football stars.
First team players Adrian and Grady Diangana from West Ham United Players Project dropped in as part of the partnership between Havering Council’s Veggie Run programme and West Ham United Foundation.
Pupils had recently been involved in the Foundation’s Healthy Hammers six-week programme, which aims to teach children about the importance of nutrition and exercise.
Since October 2018 the programme has been delivered to over half of the borough’s primary and junior schools on behalf of the Council’s Veggie Run campaign, which aims to educate children about healthy living and the rewards of eating a healthy school catered lunch.
Veggie Run has helped to reduce lunchbox consumption by over 300,000 meals since launching in April 2018 by HES Catering Services and increased school meal uptake by 14 percent.
Councillor Robert Benham, Havering Council’s cabinet member for Education, Children and Families, said:
“Working with the West Ham Foundation has given local children a great boost and helped them to work towards achieving a healthy lifestyle through fun, physical activities and healthier food choices. This is a great example of how we can work together to help improve children’s lives.”
Sam Allen, a teacher at Corbets Tey Primary, said:
“The programme has made a big impact at the school. We’ve had six weeks of West Ham United Foundation coaches coming in and getting the children active with physical activity games. The children loved it; they were always counting down to their next session.
“A lot of the children are West Ham United fans so to have two players come in and interact brilliantly with the children was an amazing way to round off this experience. Visits like this provide a boost to everyone and help to motivate the children too. We all loved it”.