MP CELEBRATES FREE MILK IN SCHOOLS

MEDIA RELEASE

16th September 2013

Dame Anne Begg, MP for Aberdeen, has been helping children in Cove Bay Kindergarten celebrate World School Milk Day, by acting as milk monitor.

To mark the event Cove Bay Kindergarten encouraged children to drink milk and understand the nutritional benefits milk provides, alongside hundreds of schools and nurseries across the UK throughout September and October 2013.

Lisa Gray, Nursery Manager at Cove Bay Kindergarten said: “The children at Covebay Kindergarten are very active and drinking their milk helps them to refuel and keep hydrated throughout the day.

Drinking milk all together allows the children to interact with one another and develop their social skills. We feel it is very important for the children to have access to milk every day as it provides essential nutrients to help their bones grow healthy and strong, whilst also offering a fantastic boost to their everyday growth and development.”

World School Milk Day is on Wednesday 25th September. An initiative driven globally by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, World School Milk Day is funded in the UK by Cool Milk, the country’s leading school milk supplier.

The annual event, held on the last Wednesday in September, has been celebrated by children drinking milk in schools and early years settings in over 30 countries around the world since 2000.

Speaking about her visit Dame Begg said: “I am always delighted to have the opportunity to support World School Milk Day and raise awareness of the importance of the school milk scheme.

“The social and health benefits to children are extensive. As well as boosting social interaction and teaching the children to share, the scheme also ensures that children benefit from the nutritional qualities of milk aiding their physical development.

“I loved drinking milk as a child and I still do!”

In the UK, an estimated 1.5 million children under the age of five receive free milk every day, while pupils aged five to eleven receive subsidised milk.

Delivered fresh to the classroom, the milk is enjoyed as a group, promoting social development and independence. Milk is vital for building healthy bones and teeth and improves a child’s concentration, memory and creativity.

For more information about World School Milk Day, please visit www.worldschoolmilkday.com

Images of the visit are available at:

http://flickr.com/gp/100675627@N07/Qh20H4/

PLEASE CLICK ‘SETS’. Relevant images and information regarding them will be stored in the folder named in accordance with the school or nursery. Names of those within the image are detailed in each images’ ‘tags’ (left to right).

Notes to Editor:

• Cool Milk is the UK’s leading school milk supplier, working in partnership with local authorities and early years groups to supply free and subsidised school milk to children in pre-schools, nurseries, and primary schools across the UK.

• The 1944 Education Act introduced a free milk clause which gave a free glass (1/3 pint) of milk to all school children in the United Kingdom under the age of 18. Today, under the Welfare Food Scheme run by the Department of Health, under-fives are still eligible for free school milk. Milk is also subsidised for school children aged five to 11 by the European Union under the European school milk scheme.

• It is recognised that there are a wide range of health benefits from drinking milk.
  
  

For more information call Charley Sowden from Shooting Star PR on M: 07971 200 510 T: 01522 528540 or E: charley@thisisblyth.com

Charley Sowden
Shooting Star PR
01522 528 540
charley@thisisblyth.com

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